Worcester, Mass. – Clark University senior hurler Phillip Bertocci (Thomason, Maine) twirled a one-hit shutout in the opener, but MIT rebounded with a resounding 12-6 win in game two in the final regular season New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) series of the year for both teams on Saturday at Granger Field.

The Engineers, who would've won the regular season title and secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming postseason tournament had they swept, slips to No. 3 behind second-seeded Wheaton and the regular season champion, Babson.

Bertocci, meanwhile, who was inserted into the starting rotation just last week, was outstanding in his first career home start. He needed just 75 pitches (51 strikes) and faced only three batters over the minimum in moving to 3-1 on the season.

The only real trouble Bertocci faced all afternoon was in the third inning. After allowing a leadoff single to Sean Karson (Winter Park, Fla.), he fired an errant throw to first and Karson scampered to third. Bertocci then recorded a strikeout, allowed his only walk, and then got one of several stellar defensive plays in support. Bryan Macomber (Los Altos, Calif.) fouled a ball down the first base line that Nicholas Kellogg (Florence, Mass.) chased down and made an over the shoulder catch on, holding the runner at third. Bertocci then got the next batter to pop up to short to end the inning.

From that point on, Bertocci retired 12 of the next 13 batters. The only man to reach during that stretch – James McKinney (Wakefield, R.I.) – was on a hit by pitch, but he was promptly erased on a steal attempt by Kevin Kopec (Katonah, N.Y.).

Not to be outdone, MIT starter Aric Dama (Winfield, Ill.) went the first six innings and allowed just three hits, while striking out five.

Clark put together a scoring chance in the sixth on a Jeremy Gerber (Amherst, Mass.) single and he then moved into scoring position on a sacrifice. Peter Lewis (Gardiner, Maine) then singled to left field, but Gerber was thrown out at the plate on a one-hop throw to home by McKinney.

Bertocci sent down the Engineers in order in the seventh and then the Cougar offense got the run it needed to collect the win in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Shawn Lamothe (Bellingham, Mass.) smacked a double down the left field line off of reliever Henry Zhu (Overland Park, Kan.). Brian Sullivan (Auburn, Mass.) was intentionally walked setting the stage for freshman Nicholas Flemister (Pittsford, N.Y.). He came through with a ringing single to left, giving the Cougars their second shutout win of the season.

Clark jumped ahead 3-0 in the first inning of game two highlighted by an RBI single by Lewis and a RBI double to center by Sullivan. Cougar starter Benjamin Seel (Oakland, Maine) found a groove and was pitching strong but the Engineer bats came to life in the top of the fifth.

The first two batters reached base and came around to score on a base hit by Karson and a double by Jonathan Rea (Palo Alto, Calif.). A bunt single by Brian Doyle (Hopkinton, Mass.) brought in another run and when the dust cleared MIT had scored five runs on five hits.

Macomber pushed the lead to 6-3 on an inside-the-park homer in the seventh but Clark got that run back in the bottom of the frame on a single to right by Kellogg.

The lead ballooned to 9-4 in the top of the eighth on three hits and an error, but the Cougars made it 9-6 on a Kopec double and an unearned run.

Clark would get no closer, however, as the Engineers tacked on three runs in the ninth on doubles from A.J. Hansborough (Deltona, Fla.) and Ricardo Perez (Vienna, Va.).

Seel, who went the first six innings for the Cougars takes the loss, while Brandon Lowe (Brier, Wash.), who tossed one inning of one-hit relief gets the win for the Engineers.

MIT will open up postseason play on Wednesday with a 3:30 p.m. contest against Babson, while Clark will play two more regular season contests. The Cougars will face Wesleyan on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. before returning home for the final game of their 2011 season against Bridgewater State.