Myrtle Beach, SC --- The WPI baseball team rallied from a 5-3 deficit to defeat Manhattanville, 9-6, on Tuesday morning at Ebbets Field as part of the Myrtle Beach Spring Break Tournament. The Engineers improve to 4-0 on the season, while the Valiants fall to 4-2.
James DiGiovanni (Kennebunk, ME) drove in three runs on two hits to lead the WPI offense.
Chuck Cappello (Southboro, MA) added two hits, scored three times and drove in a pair, while
Camden Willems (The Woodlands, TX) recorded two hits and two RBI.
Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, CT) and
Zachary Roethlein (Pomfret Center, CT) each drove in a run, while
Matt Shea (Salem, NH) and
Jack Zawacki (Pittsford, NY) contributed a hit and a run scored.
Andrew Burke (Walpole, MA) started for the Engineers and allowed four runs over the first two-plus innings.
Joseph Conti (Lincoln, RI) earned the win in relief, tossing five innings while allowing two runs on five hits.
Kaiden Williams (North Aurora, IL) worked a scoreless eighth, and
Mason Walls (Pearland, TX) struck out two in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.
Manhattanville was paced by
Marco Clara (Syosset, NY), who went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Gregory Tashik (Midland Park, NJ),
Alex Exarchakis (Monroe, NY),
Scott Ennist Jr. (Poughkeepsie, NY), and
Joe Kearney (Brick, NJ) each drove in a run, while
Griffin White (Poughkeepsie, NY) added a double and a sacrifice fly.
Ryan Costa (Bayport, NY) took the loss for the Valiants after allowing eight runs on 10 hits over 4.2 innings.
WPI jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Roethlein doubled to open the frame before Willems singled him home, and Lattimer followed with an RBI groundout to bring in Willems.
The Engineers added another run in the second when Cappello tripled down the right-field line and later scored on a DiGiovanni fielder's choice.
Manhattanville answered with five runs in the top of the third to take a 5-3 lead. Clara, Tashik and Exarchakis each delivered RBI singles before Ennist Jr. drove in a run with a groundout and Kearney added an RBI single.
WPI responded in the fourth inning as DiGiovanni doubled home Zawacki and Willems followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 5-5.
The Engineers regained control with three runs in the fifth. Cappello singled to right to score Shea and Lattimer before DiGiovanni added an RBI single to extend the lead to 8-5.
Manhattanville trimmed the deficit to two in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from White, but the WPI bullpen held the Valiants in check the rest of the way.
The Engineers added an insurance run in the eighth when Cappello scored on a muffed throw during a failed pickoff attempt at first.
Walls worked around two hits in the ninth and struck out the final two batters to seal the victory.
WPI continues play at the Myrtle Beach Spring Break Tournament on Wednesday, playing Immaculata at noon. Manhattanville returns home this weekend for a doubleheader against New Jersey City University on Saturday beginning at 11:30am.
