Fitchburg, MA --- WPI amassed 22 total hits in a NEWMAC baseball
sweep of Springfield on Sunday. The contests, which had been
rescheduled from last Saturday, were relocated to Fitchburg State
due to wet field conditions at WPI.
Freshman designated hitter Mike Swanton (Foxboro, MA) launched the
first homerun of his career to help WPI to an 8-2 win over the
Pride in game one. The Engineers received an outstanding pitching
performance from Brian Duncan (West Suffield, CT), who went the
distance (seven innings), while allowing just two runs on five hits
while fanning six to improve to 2-1.
Down 1-0 in the third inning, WPI put together a five-run rally
highlighted by Swanton's blast to right center to knock in two
runs. Ryan Rainone (Oakville, CT) singled home the inning's first
run with a single up the middle that scored Matt Fiore (Wakefield,
MA) who had gotten aboard after being hit by a pitch. The
Engineer's fifth run came on a Cody McGregor (Westfield, MA) single
to right field that plated Rainone.
WPI put three more runs on the board in the fourth inning to take
an 8-1 advantage. The inning featured doubles from Fiore and Lyle
Miller (Milford, CT) while Paul Galligan (Weymouth, MA) and Scott
MacDonald (Gorham, ME) each registered singles.
Springfield shortstop Tim Romeo (Whitesboro, NY) was 2-for-2 with
one RBI while teammates Jeff Hewes (Groton, CT), Ryan Tatreau
(Greenfield, MA), and Drew Michael (Longmeadow, MA) all recorded
hits for the Pride. Joe Carlos (Hampden, MA) took the loss on the
hill for Springfield and fell to 0-3 on the season.
In game two of the twin-bill, the Engineers got on the board early
in a 13-4 win. WPI went up 2-0 in the second on singles from Miller
and MacDonald. Springfield retaliated with one run in the top of
the third to cut the WPI advantage to 2-1 when Hewes doubled to
bring home Chris Stack (Albany, NY) who had singled earlier in the
inning.
Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA) doubled the Engineers score in the
fourth when he nailed a home run to straight away center field to
score McGregor who had reached on a throwing error to give WPI a
4-1 lead. Springfield came roaring back in the top of the fifth via
a three run shot from Romeo to knot the score at 4-4.
WPI took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth before adding
four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to secure the win.
The eight-run spurt featured hits from Galligan, MacDonald, Miller,
Rainone, and Fiore. Fiore led the WPI attack going 2-for-5 to knock
in four runs and score two runs while Rainone was 2-for-5 with one
RBI and two runs scored. McNee added three RBI in the victory.
Springfield was led by Romeo who went 3-for-4 with three RBI while
left fielder Stack poked three hits of his own. Derek Hodder
(Hamden, CT) (1-2) took the loss for the Pride as he allowed nine
runs on ten hits while striking out two in 5 2/3 innings of
work.
Ryan Smalanskas (Shrewsbury, MA) earned the win on the hill for the
Crimson and Gray, throwing 5 2/3 innings to give up four runs on
nine hits while fanning six. Smalanskas is now 2-1 on the season.
Freshman Nolan Murphy (Northboro, MA) and Thomas Whiting combined
to register the final ten outs while not allowing a run.
With the sweep, WPI ups its record to 8-10 overall (3-1 NEWMAC)
while Springfield falls to 2-13 overall (0-4
NEWMAC).
