Northboro, MA --- Junior Tyler Weiss (Monroe, CT) struck out a career-high 12 batters, including six looking, and six different Engineers clubbed an extra base hit as WPI held off New England College, 6-5, Monday at the New England Baseball Complex.
After two scoreless innings, the Engineers enjoyed a 6-0 lead through five. The initial run scored on a single by junior Ryan Tropeano (Pembroke, MA) in the third.
Sophomore Tyrone Patterson (Upper Marlboro, MD) plated the first of four runs in the fourth with a grounder to short for the second out of the frame. Junior Josh Herlands (Glastonbury, CT) and senior Chas DeWitt (Nashua, NH) sandwiched freshman Jordan DeDonato's (Danvers, MA) RBI single with run-producing doubles for the 5-0 advantage.
Junior Benjamin Chaffee (Franklin, MA) chipped in with an RBI double with two outs in the fifth.
The Pilgrims put three on the board in the top of the sixth beginning with a single by junior Evan Delaney (Hadley, MA). Classmate Jeam Castillo (Lynn, MA) homered on the next at-bat to cut the deficit in half. Sophomore Stanley Vargas (Boston, MA) homered with two outs in the seventh and junior Nick Powers (Malden, MA) doubled in a run with a two-out ground-rule double in the eighth. DeDonato delivered another RBI single in the bottom of the inning.
DeDonato finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Tropeano (walk, RBI) and Chaffee (double, RBI, 2 runs) each went 2-for-3 for the Engineers. Gallagher, Patterson, Herlands and DeWitt accounted for the balance of the WPI doubles in the contest with one each. Weiss collected his fifth career victory while sophomore Nick Colucci (Lynnfield, MA) picked up his first career save.
Powers went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI and senior Justin Carey (Amherst, MA) recorded two doubles and added a run for the guests. Junior Manuel Alejandro (East Hartford, CT) led the NEC pitching staff with five strikeouts.
WPI (12-22) wraps up its season Thursday with a 4pm appointment at Becker. The Pilgrims (21-11), meanwhile, head to Castleton Thursday for a 2pm NAC doubleheader.