Davenport, FL --- The first day of the baseball season brought a pair of tough losses for the WPI baseball team to local foe UMass Dartmouth at the RussMatt Invitational down in Florida.
Game one of the day featured a 9-8 walkoff win from the Corsairs after an impressive seventh inning rally from the Engineers (0-2) that fell just short. Game two went in favor of UMass Dartmouth (2-0) via a 12-0 shutout.
Geordan Jackson Murphy (Nadi, Fiji) picked up the game one victory for UMD in a relief position while UMass Dartmouth's starter Adam Maher (Plymouth, MA) earned the game two win.
Joe Salvon (West Springfield, MA) was 3-for-6 on the day for the Engineers going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run in game one and was one of three Engineers with a hit in game two, finishing 1-for-2 in the outing. Matt Tempone (Smithtown, NY) finished game one with a 2-for-3 outing for UMass Dartmouth, driving in two runs and scoring another pair. In game two Andrew Bryant (Canton, MA) led the way with a 4-for-5 effort, two doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored.
GAME ONE
UMass Dartmouth built up a significant lead, churning out a pair of runs in the second and third innings, a single run in the fourth and another duo of runs in the sixth inning to gain a 7-0 advantage heading into the final frame of the day.
The Engineers never gave up, putting together an eight run top of the seventh inning. Kyle Johns (Milltown, NJ) started things off with a walk and Nicholas Battaglino (Marlboro, MA) stepped in to pinch run for him. Jake DelMonte (Southington, CT) was hit by a pitch in the next at bat and Gavin George (Salem, NH) followed up with a single to center to load the bases.
Kolby Robertson (Easton, PA) earned an RBI after being hit by a pitch, followed by a walk to DJ Brooks (Danvers, MA) to put the first two runs of the day for WPI which also prompted a pitching change for the Corsairs. Josh Malcolm (Coventry, CT) stepped onto the mound for UMass Dartmouth with the bases still loaded and allowed another run to cross on a wild pitch, but was able to pick up the first out of the inning on a strikeout.
Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) then walked to reload the bases followed by a single to left field from Salvon which made it a 7-4 game and prompted another UMD pitching change. The Corsairs brought in Murphy, who immediately gave up a grand slam to Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY) who gave WPI its first lead of the day 8-7. Murphy was able to sit down the next two batters and end the top half of the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, a pair of walks and a wild pitch put the game-tying and go-ahead runs at second and third base with no outs and a throwing error prompted the walkoff from UMass Dartmouth.
GAME TWO
The Corsairs held WPI off of the board in game two, netting four runs in the top of the first and never looked back en route to the win.
UMass Dartmouth began things off with a triple to left center, followed by back-to-back doubles to put the first two runs of the game on the board. A two-out single through the right side added run number three, followed by a single through the right side to make it an early 4-0 game.
Another double in the third inning made it an 8-0 game in favor of the Corsairs and a three-run shot from D Perron in the fifth inning gave UMD a double-digit advantage as they were able to add on one more and stymy the WPI bats en route to the 12-0 game two victory.
WPI is back in action on Monday, March 6 with a double-header against another Northeast foe in Wentworth beginning at 3:30pm, while the Corsairs will face Fitchburg State in a nine-inning game also on Monday but at 2pm.