Northboro, MA --- A six-run second inning powered the WPI baseball team to an 11-2 victory over Nichols on Thursday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex. With the win, the Engineers improve to 8-8, while the Bison dropped to 7-7.
WPI's offense was led by
Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ), who went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with two doubles and three RBI.
Spencer Merrick (Abington, MA) and
Jacob Wiberg (Exeter, NH) each drove in two runs.
Zachary Roethlein (Pomfret Center, CT),
Jack Zawacki (Pittsford, NY), and
Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, CT) all added RBI, while
Andrew Cash (Marlboro, MA) chipped in with a 3-for-4 performance, including an RBI.
On the mound,
Luke Blandino (Eden, NY) earned the win with a steady six-inning outing. He allowed just one run on five hits while striking out five and walking two. Relievers
Ethan Smith (Hanson, MA) and
Gage Nagy (Monroe, WA) each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to close out the game.
Nichols was paced offensively by
Andrew Croteau (Reading, MA), who went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI single in the seventh.
Julian Galvan (Torrance, CA) brought home a run with a groundout in the third, while
Sean Ryan (Hopedale, MA) took the loss after giving up six runs (five earned) over 1.1 innings.
WPI broke the game open with a six-run second inning, taking advantage of a Nichols error before Wiberg doubled in two and Burns followed with a two-run double of his own. Lattimer capped the inning with an RBI single to make it 6-0.
Both teams added runs in the third. Nichols got on the board when Galvan grounded out to second, scoring Croteau from third. In the bottom of the frame, Cash scored on another double from Burns, pushing the WPI lead to 7-1.
The Engineers tacked on insurance runs with a four-run sixth, highlighted by a two-run single from Roethlein and Merrick's second double of the day, scoring two more to extend the lead to 11-1.
Croteau added an RBI single in the seventh to bring in Harty and cut the deficit to 11-2, but that was as close as Nichols would get.
WPI returns to action Saturday with a home doubleheader against Plymouth State (played at Clark) at 2:00pm. Nichols hosts Roger Williams in a conference doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11:30am.
