Box Score HARWICH, Mass.--Sophomore Steve Buckley went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, including the go-ahead home run, and junior starting pitcher Brendan Nugent scattered eight hits as fourth-seeded Western New England defeated No. 5 MIT, 5-2, in a first round New England Regional game of the 2013 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship on Wednesday at Whitehouse Field.

The Golden Bears (32-11) advance in the winners' bracket on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 8 Daniel Webster versus No. 1 and nationally No. 9/14 ranked Southern Maine. The Engineers fall to 27-12 and will play the loser of that 8/1 matchup in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Trailing 1-0 after three innings, Western New England took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth when Buckley belted a two-run homer over the left field fence. He leads the team with five home runs, a career high.

Nugent improved to 8-1 on the season after going seven innings, striking out four and allowing two earned runs without issuing a walk. Sophomore Nick Salerno earned his third save, striking out three, walking one and allowing one hit in two scoreless frames.

"Considering the layoff, I was pretty pleased with how we played this morning," Western New England coach Matt LaBranche said after the game. "We hung in there early until we got our game-legs back.

"Nug(ent) was excellent. We thought he was ready for a big performance and definitely delivered," he said. "Buck(ley) is really coming on as a big-time clean-up hitter. Obviously, his homer really got us going."

Junior Jeff Schult added two hits for the Golden Bears, who stranded only two runners.

The Engineers opened the scoring in the top of the second when sophomore KJ Parent drove in sophomore Parker Tew for the early 1-0 edge.

Western New England made the advantage 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by senior Taylor Perun and a run scoring single up the middle by Buckley.

MIT, however, cut the deficit in half when sophomore Hayden Cornwell blasted his squad-best fourth dinger of the season for a solo round tripper that cleared the left field fence.

The Golden Bears chipped in with an insurance run in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by senior Mike Rubino, who scored Schult.

Senior Max Ockner (5-3) shouldered the loss for MIT, yielding four earned runs on six hits to go with one walk and one punch-out.

McKinney and Parent both chipped in with two base-knocks for the Engineers.

MIT actually led in the hitting department with a final tally of 9-8 with three extra-base hits, but they stranded four in scoring position as they nearly had a base runner on in every inning.

(Editor's note: Host Eastern College Athletic Conference contributed to this game report.)