Henniker, NH --- WPI baseball's left side of the infield of
Joe DiMichele (East Longmeadow, MA) and
Chuck Cappello (Southboro, MA) combined for nine runs batted in to lift the Engineers to a 17-7 victory over host New England College in a non-conference baseball game played Monday afternoon.
With the victory, the Crimson and Gray improve to 13-18 overall while the Pilgrims dip to 7-23 on the season.
DiMichele, the WPI third baseman, went 2-for-6 on the day with six RBI, including a bases-clearing double and a bases loaded walk in a decisive nine-run top of the third inning while Cappello, the shortstop, went 3-for-4 knocking in three. Both plays also scored twice on the day.
Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ) and
Liam Keblin (Newton, MA) each recorded two hits on the day and
D.C. Brown (Plymouth, MA) was walked four times and subsequently scored four times.
Eight different pitchers toed the rubber for the Engineers with starting
Ethan Smith (Hanson, MA) allowed just a run in two innings of work and three relievers, including winning pitcher
Eric DePiero (Beverly, MA), along with
Daniel Lynn (Severna Park, MD) and
Michael Domino (Marlboro, MA), went a scoreless frame without a allowing a hit. Sophomore
Sean Murphy (East Taunton, MA) did not allow a run or a hit in recording the final six outs over the eighth and ninth innings.
The hosts dented the scoreboard first when in the bottom of the first inning when NEC freshman third baseman
Jaken Pellerin (Manchester, NH) blasted a solo shot over the left field wall for his fifth home run of the season to put the home team ahead 1-0.
WPI took control in a nine-run third inning. DiMichele put the Engineers ahead with the three-run double and then scored on a squeeze bunt by Keblin. Burns added a two-run single,
Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, CT) notched a run-scoring base hit, and DiMichele and Cappello drew bases loaded walks.
NEC clawed back to within five runs at 9-4 but the Crimson and Gray pushed across three in the eighth on RBIs from Cappello and
Luke Frauton (Medway, MA) and five more in the ninth, including a two-run single by DiMichele and a Cappello RBI single.
Both teams return to their respective conference schedule with home contests on Tuesday. WPI welcomes city rival Clark to the New England Baseball complex for a 3:30pm first pitch while the Pilgrams play host to Johnson & Wales beginning at 3pm.
