CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Baseball combined for 15 runs over the final four innings, with 14 of those coming with two outs as the Beacons pounded regionally-ranked MIT to earn their eighth straight victory with a 15-4 decision Thursday afternoon at O'Brien Field.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 15, MIT 4

UMass Boston (21-12)
MIT (19-11)

HOW IT HAPPENED

After trailing 1-0 through the first five innings, the Beacons bats came to life in the top of the sixth inning as they knocked in three runs to take their first lead of the afternoon.  That inning would spark a hit parade for the Beacons, as they just rolled over the Engineers.  They would put-up three more runs in seventh, one in the eighth, and then a season-high eight runs in the ninth inning.

On top of the offensive onslaught, the Beacons pitching staff also did their part as Bryan Kaufman (Farmingdale, N.Y.) went a strong five innings, allowing just one run on three hits.  From there the bullpen cleaned up the rest, with Joe Maguire (Peabody, Mass.) pitching a shutdown inning, followed by three solid innings from Steve Witkowski (Pittsfield, Mass.).  The tall righty allowed three runs, two earned, on one hit and had four K's over the final three frames in Thursday's win.

In total the Beacons combined for five extra base hits, with Dave Murphy (Plymouth, Mass.) crushing his fifth home run of the season, and first away from Monan Park.  The junior combined for four RBI in the victory, while Nick Herzog (Riverhead, N.Y.) finished with a career-high three after clearing the bases to cap-off the ninth inning rout. 

UMass Boston truly played one of their most complete games against the always tough Engineers, as they were extremely aggressive on the base paths.   Anthony Searles (Shelton, Conn.) led the team with two of their season-high five stolen bases.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Beacons eight straight wins now is the second longest win-streak in program history only behind the 2010 team who won nine straight on their way to their first conference and regional titles
• The Beacons sweep the regular season series with MIT having won their season-opener by the final of 4-0 in early March
• In the last two games, both against regionally-ranked opponents the Beacons have combined for 29 hits, 24 runs, eight stolen bases, and 11 walks
• Kaufman improved to 4-3 on the year with Thursday's victory, with the one run allowed marking a new season-low for the righty
• The Beacons have now won three straight over MIT, and have won six of their last nine meetings

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will travel to Plymouth State University on Saturday for a noon conference doubleheader.