Eagle Lake, FL --- The WPI baseball team ended its 10-game Spring Break trip on a winning note on Saturday night , splitting a doubleheader against Roger Williams to finish its trip at 6-4. After losing the opener, 6-1, the Crimson and Gray came back with 23 hits in round two to grab a 17-0 victory.
Freshman Mike Vaitkunas (Auburn, MA) tossed six scoreless innings in the second game, scattering five hits to pick up his first college victory.
David Trujillo (Sutton, MA) and Anthony Capuano (Stoneham, MA) both notched three hits to lead the offense. Capuano scored three times, while Trujillo was one of four WPI players to drive in a pair of runs in the game.
Seven players had two hits in the blowout win, but Nick Comei (Haverhill, MA) stayed hot at the plate all day with two hits in both games.
The Crimson and Gray jumped on top, 5-0, in the bottom of the first as Vinny D'Ambrosio(Mahopac, NY) hit a leadoff single as the first five WPI hitters all reached base, getting help from three early errors by the Hawks.
Capuano, Alex Venditti (Newton, MA) and Steve Petry (Worcester, MA) and had run-scoring hits in the inning.
WPI added five more runs in the third as Capuano led off with the first of three doubles in the inning. Comei sent a one-scoring double to left, and Zach Blanchard (Warwick, RI) drove in two more runs, bringing around D'Ambrosio and Sean Kelly (Shrewsbury, MA) to set the score at 10-0.
The Engineers would add multiple runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to continue piling on. The fifth inning was highlighted by a pinch-hit one-run double from Brendan Walsh(Windham, NH). He later crossed the plate on a Comei singled to make it 15-0 through five full.
Will Feraco (Auburn, MA) played a part in both sixth-inning runs to cap the WPI scoring. Feraco drove home Drew DeRubeis (Milford, CT) with a double and then later scored on a single by Jay Fulmer (Gloucester, MA).
The Engineers fell victim to a five-run fifth inning by Roger Williams (8-4) in the first game of the day, putting WPI behind, 6-0, heading into the sixth.
Venditti started the inning by rocking a solo home run over the fence for the Crimson and Gray's only run as they couldn't build on that momentum.
Comei also tried to spark WPI with a pair of leadoff hits, sending a double down the right field line to start the third inning and then singling to begin the fifth.
The Engineers jump back into action locally at 3:30pm Tuesday, playing at Johnson & Wales.
Release by Carl Setterlund - WPI Athletics Intern - Emerson '14