Thursday brought a couple of welcome firsts for the Daniel Webster College baseball team.

The eighth-seeded Eagles (29-11) upset No. 5 MIT, 10-4, to record their first-ever NCAA Division III tournament win. The victory eliminated MIT and keeps the Eagle alive for at least a 1 p.m. game on Friday in the New England Regional at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Mass.

Also included in the win was the Eagles first home run of the entire season, a two-run shot by Rich Lizotte that capped a five-run seventh inning. Earlier in the game, the Eagles, who trailed 3-0 and 4-1, scored four runs in the fourth to grab the lead for good at 5-4.

But that’s right, DWC had not hit a single home run all season until Thursday.

“Hey, we’ve had a lot of doubles this year,” Eagles head coach J.P. Pyne said jokingly. “But I’m really proud of the guys. The fact that we were sent to the New England Regional to me was a sign of respect. We wanted to come down here and plant our flag, prove we belong. We got a win against a quality team.’’

Still facing elimination, DWC is scheduled to next face the loser of Thursday night’s game between third seed Endicott and No. 2 Wheaton. If the Eagles win that battle Friday afternoon, then they will have another loser’s bracket game Friday night at 8. Pyne has tabbed righty Syed Ali to start the afternoon game, but won’t go beyond that.

The Eagles pounded out 16 hits, but perhaps the main ingredient to the win was another stellar long relief performance of former Alvirne standout Zach Hurley. Hurley, who pitched five-plus innings of one-run ball in DWC’s New England Collegiate Conference title game win 10 days ago, repeated that feat with 52?3 of scoreless relief. He allowed five hits, fanned three, walked four and twice pitched out of one-out bases loaded jams (fifth and sixth innings).

“Zach (5-1) was outstanding,” Pyne said. “He got in and out of trouble, but you could see this was eerily similar. He did his job. We were seeing the confidence in him from what he did in the conference final.’’

Hurley entered the game in the second with one out and lasted until the eighth, where Mike Patane finished the final two frames. He came in relief of Eagles starter Ariel Ramos, who gave up three in the first on a Hayden Cornwell RBI single and two-run homer by MIT’s Parker Tew.

Tyler Bonin, who drove in three runs on the day, closed the gap to 3-1 on an RBI triple in the second but MIT (27-13, 13 hits on the day) added a run in the bottom of the inning on James McKinney’s RBI single.

The Eagles, however, rallied in the fifth and never looked back, knocking MIT lefty starter Aric Dama out of the game. Devin Decarteret’s RBI single started a string of four Eagle hits, including an RBI double by Josh Chasse and two-run single by Darrik Marstaller.

Leading 5-4, DWC poured it on in the seventh with RBI hits by Elliot Kilgore, Bonin (two-run single) and Lizotte’s homer just past the left field foul pole.

Ali went 4-3, 3.79 this year and Pyne says “We’ve given him the ball all year, and he’s given us quality starts all year. Again, it’s all hands on deck.”

But with their first NCAA win in two years and four games trying, the Eagles don’t feel as if the deck is stacked against them any longer.

Newsletter