Northboro, MA --- The WPI accumulated 33 runs on 43 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Emerson that included a combined 31 runs and 37 hits in the second game Saturday at the New England Baseball Complex. The Engineers took the first game 12-2 and the second 21-10.
The Boynton Hillers' 22 hits in game two ties for the most since March 6, 2017 versus Muskingum (OH) and the 21 runs is the most since game one at Coast Guard on April 15, 2017.
Playing as the road team, WPI raced out to a 3-0 advantage with only one out in the game. Senior Matt Howard (Worcester, MA) doubled in a pair before junior Steven Gallagher (Coventry, RI) drove an RBI single to center. With zero outs and the bases loaded, senior Evan Lacroix (Methuen, MA) drew the free pass to make it a 4-0 ballgame in the top of the second. An unearned run broke up the shutout for Emerson in the home half of the frame.
Howard then delivered a run-producing single to right in the top of the fourth while freshman Jordan DeDonato (Danvers, MA) scored on a wild pitch in the fifth. Gallagher and DeDonato used back-to-back doubles to produce a run before sophomore Tyrone Patterson (Upper Marlboro, MD) sent the ball through the gap in the right side of the infield for an RBI knock in the eighth.
Junior Ryan Tropeano (Pembroke, MA) cleared the fence in left to begin the ninth. With two outs, senior Chas DeWitt (Nashua, NH) added three to the Engineers total with a his first collegiate homer. Emerson pulled one back thanks to a leadoff blast by freshman Dylan Scarfo (Upper Montclair, NJ).
Patterson batted 4-for-6 as Lacroix (double), Gallagher (double) and Thursday's hero junior Benjamin Chaffee (Franklin, MA) each amassed three hits. Tropeano (HR), Howard (double, 3 RBI) and DeDonato (double) added two.
Senior Steven D'Agostino (Worcester, MA) did not allow an earned run on three hits and one walk with a career-high 11 strikeouts (five looking) over seven innings for WPI. Sophomore Nick Colucci (Lynnfield, MA) struck out three in the final two frames.
Scarfo and senior Neil Perry (Middleboro, MA) registered all of the Lions four hits (two each). Senior Pablo Feldman (Mill Valley, CA) and sophomore Joe Paladino (Bedminster, NJ) each swiped a base. Senior Henry Schwartz (Queens, NY) pitched 5 1/3 as sophomore Sam Knox (Sturbridge, MA) and junior Tim Mainella (Dover, NH) made relief appearances.
Both teams began the second game with five runs. Chaffee headlined the Engineer offense with a two-out 2-RBI single. Senior Tim Quitadamo (Worcester, MA) did the same for Emerson. Tropeano doubled and Howard singled to plate a pair of runs in the top of the second.
Scarfo cut the margin to one with a run-producing single up the middle in the third before the Lions claimed the lead courtesy of an RBI double by freshman Ryan McCahan (San Jose, CA) and a single by Feldman in the fourth. WPI reclaimed the advantage with four two-out tallies in the fifth. Junior Austin Lindner (W. Windsor, NJ) sent a 1-0 pitch beyond the left field fence. Tropeano completed a string of three consecutive RBI hits that began with consecutive doubles by Patterson and Lacroix.
Quitidamo came through again with a productive single in the fifth and junior Ethan Young (Amherst, MA) made it a one-run game with a RBI single to center in the sixth.
WPI then went off, scoring 10 in the eighth. Howard and Larson began the outburst with RBI doubles. The frame also featured a three-run jack by Patterson and a two-run shot by freshman Salvatore Lombardo (Flemington, NJ).
Lacroix paced the Engineers with four hits – three doubles, one triple – as Tropeano, Lindner, Chaffee added three, and Patterson (double, HR), Howard and sophomore David Larson (Port Tobacco, MD) handed in a pair. Junior Dominic Fusco (North Haven, CT) fanned the side in the eighth and sophomore Kyle Wood (Hauppauge, NY) enjoyed a quick ninth.
Emerson sophomore Joe Cuccio (Jefferson, NJ) batted 3-for-5 to go with a pair of knocks by senior Neil Perry (Middleboro, MA), McCahan, Feldman and Quitadamo. Junior Noah Zimmermann (Queens, NY) pitched the only 1-2-3 inning for the Lions.
WPI (10-10, 2-3 NEWMAC) is on the road, for the first time since returning from Florida, for a 3:30pm first pitch at Babson. Emerson (5-11, 1-4) hosts Coast Guard at the same time.