CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –  Senior Nick Aiello (Freehold, N.J.) singled in the game winning run in the bottom of the 11^th inning as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers defeated the University of Southern Maine Huskies 9-8 in extra innings Friday afternoon at Fran O'Brien Field.
 
Aiello finished the game 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI, a run scored and a walk. Southern Maine trailed MIT 7-5 in the top of the eighth but rallied for three runs. MIT scored once in the bottom of the inning and both teams went to extras.   
 
THE BASICS:
Records:
Southern Maine (4-11)
MIT (5-9-1)
Score: 
MIT 9, Southern Maine 8
 
Pitching: MIT 9, Southern Maine 8 – 11 Innings
Winning Pitcher: MIT, Casey Busson (1-2), 4.2 IP, 3 runs (0 earned), 5 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts.
Losing Pitcher: SM, Ethan Brown (0-1): 0.1 IP, 1 run, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

•  MIT struck first and led 4-0 at the end of the second inning.  Senior Cory O'Shea (Glen Allen, Va.) drove in the Engineers first run of the game with an RBI single through the left side before sophomore Teddy Schoenfield (Boulder, Colo.) knocked a three-run home run.  The Engineers scored all four of their runs in the second inning with two outs and took advantage of a costly Husky error as all four runs were unearned.
• The Huskies rallied to take the lead with five runs in the top of the fourth inning. With one out, sophomore Jonathan Wilson (East Granby, Conn.) hit his second home run of the season and second in as many games to start the Huskies rally, putting USM on the board trailing 4-1.
• USM freshman Zach Mooers (Winchester, N.H./Keene) drove in the Huskies' second run with an RBI single up the middle. Back-to-back singles from sophomore Janek Luksa (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) and junior Tom Vesosky (Colchester, Vermont) led to an RBI sacrifice fly from senior Brogan Searle-Belanger (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) making it a 4-3 game.
• Husky sophomore Cam Seymour (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) followed Searle-Belanger with an RBI single to right to tie it up at four runs, before senior Jason Komulainen (Gorham, Maine) drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single to center.
• The Huskies stayed in front of MIT until the bottom of the sixth when the Engineers retook the lead on a three-run home run from junior Jake Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) for a 7-5 game.
• Answering back in the top of the eighth, Seymour launched his first home run of the season – a two-run shot to left – to tie the score up at 7-7 for the Huskies and was followed by a solo home run from Komulainen for an 8-7 lead.
• Sonandres delivered again for MIT hitting his second home run of the game – a solo home run to left – making it a tie game again at 8-8. 
• Both teams were scoreless in the ninth and tenth innings. MIT and the Huskies each had runners in scoring position in the ninth but were unable to convert, and in the 10th both sides were retired in order.
• In the top of the 11^th USM had a runner on one out, but a runner caught stealing and a strikeout halted the threat.  In the home half of the 11^th, MIT had two on with one out before Aiello's walk off single ended the game.

 
UP NEXT:
Southern Maine will play its first home games of the season on Saturday (12:00 pm).  The Huskies will host the Rhode Island College Anchormen in a Little East Conference doubleheader.  RIC is 10-5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Little East.  Southern Maine is 1-1 in conference play.