NEW LONDON, Conn. –

In the ever so important first round of the NEWMAC baseball tournament, Coast Guard defeated MIT 5-4 in 10 innings. The #2 seed Bears will now face the #1 seed Salve Regina(who also won via walk off today) on Saturday May 10^th at 12:30 PM at Salve. MIT, who defeated Babson yesterday to advance to today, will now play Wheaton College Saturday at 9:30 AM in an elimination game with the winner playing the loser of Salve/CGA at 3:30 PM.

MIT got the scoring started in the game with a run in the top of the first. They took the 1-0 lead on a wild pitch, an omen of how the game would ultimately meet its end. Coast Guard's first two batters Carson Cho(Haymarket, VA) and Nathan Stafford(Jupiter, FL) would reach in the bottom half of the frame but after Cho was picked off 2^nd and two straight ground outs the Bears would leave the inning empty-handed.

MIT again got traffic in the 2^nd inning but CGA starter Vito Giordano(Scarsdale, NY) escaped the jam, forcing a popup to Cho to keep the Engineers off the board. After a quiet 2^nd inning for the Coast Guard offense, freshman John Spivey(Saint Louis, MO) who had success against the Bears in the regular season again dealt damage, sending a ball over the left field fence to extend the MIT lead to 2-0.

Both squads exchanged 1-2-3 innings in bottom three and top four before the Bears offense broke through in the 4^th. Parker Madden(Ruston, LA) got the party started with an infield single and would advance to third on a Wyatt Duthu(Madison, AL) double to left field. Left field was the toughest position to play all game long. The high skies, wind, and sun made every fly ball an experience. MIT's first hit of the day was a double that was lost in the sky, Duthu's double in the fourth was the same. MIT was able to capitalize on the double in the 1^st by scoring and CGA did the same in the 4^th when Drew Basque(Kealakekua, HI) hit a two RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.

Both teams starters would exit the game in the 5^th inning, and both teams would get men on base in the 5^th and 6^th but no one was able to push those runs across. Bears starter Vito Giordano went 4.2 IP, keeping his team in the game allowing just two runs on four hits, walking none and striking out three. In relief of Giordano was Tyler Michalek(Haslet, TX) who went 2.1 IP striking out three and allowing just two hits. Both of those hits came in the 7^th, the second of which was an RBI single by John Spivey who proved again to be a thorn in the side of the Bears. The Engineer lead would not last through the inning though, with the top of the Bears lineup coming through in the bottom of the inning. Carson Cho sent a screaming line drive over the centerfielder's head and legged out a triple to lead off the inning. Two hitter Nathan Stafford one upped him three pitches later with an opposite field, line drive, lead grabbing home run over the left field fence with Stafford rounding the bases to an eruption of Bears fans and players.

The relentless MIT offense would not go down despite the momentum swing with catcher John Dwyer(Northport, NY) hitting a game tying RBI double in the 8^th inning. Dwyer's double very well could have scored more than one had it not been for the defense of Wyatt Duthu. The senior second baseman flashed the leather on a full extension, diving catch into foul territory to get the second out of the inning. In the bottom of the 8^th, Kael Godshalk would be stranded on base after a two out double to send the game to the 9^th tied.
Neither team threatened in the 9^th, each just landing a man on first base to send the already tense playoff game to extra innings.

The first inning of free baseball started off dramatically for Bears pitcher Jackson Dorsey(Newark, DE). Dorsey, who also pitched the 8^th and 9^th, came back out for the 10^th and hit the first two batters he saw. After coach Brian Casey took a mound visit, Dorsey settled down and threw a strike to the next batter. From that point, the sophomore bullpen stud did the rest himself. On a sacrifice bunt attempt, Dorsey fielded the ball and fired a seed to shortstop Rick Barkley(Bellevue, WA) to nab the runner at second for the first out of the inning. He was tested yet again on the next pitch when a squeeze attempt came back his way but Dorsey gloved the ball and gave catcher Parker Madden a perfect flip to nail the possible lead taking run at the plate. He would strand the runners at 1st and 2^nd by striking out the next batter swinging, letting his emotions out while walking off the mound.

In the bottom of the 10^th, the CGA offense did their job to get Dorsey the win(now 2-0 on the year). Freshman Connor Cilento(Point Pleasant, NJ) who earlier pinch ran for Basque, got the rally started with an infield single down the third base line. He would advance to third base with just one out when he got a great jump on a Jack Steel(Medford Lakes, NJ) bloop single into right field. With first and third and just one out, Kael Godshalk stepped up the plate with a chance to be the hero. The junior outfielder would see just one pitch, watching it bounce in front of the plate and skip past the catcher to score Connor Cilento standing up and set the Bears up with a date with Salve Regina on Saturday.

Jackson Dorsey earned the win on the mound with three strong innings of work, allowing one run on 2 hits with three Ks. On offense, Cho, Steel, and Godshalk each had two hits with Stafford and Basque leading the squad with two RBI each.