Providence, RI --- The WPI baseball team handed Johnson & Wales its first loss of the season, winning an 11-6 slugfest at Scotts Miracle-Gro Field on Friday afternoon. It was the Crimson and Gray's second game in four days at JWU, having fallen 3-1 to the Wildcats on Tuesday.

Senior captains Sean Kelly (Shrewsbury, MA) and David Trujillo (Sutton, MA) combined for five hits and each drove in three runs to blast the Engineers (7-5) to victory.

Trujillo and Anthony Capuano (Stonham, MA) both drove in a pair of runs in the first inning - Capuano on a double to center - as WPI led Johnson & Wales (9-1) by a 4-1 tally after one.

Freshman Mike Vaitkunas (Auburn, MA) won his second straight start, scattering three earned runs over six innings, departing with an 8-3 lead midway through the sixth inning.

Kelly and Vinny D'Ambrosio (Mahopac, NY) both plated runners in the bottom half of the sixth to make it 10-3, while Alex Venditti (Newton, MA) (3-for-5) brought around Nick Comei (Haverhill, MA) with a base hit in the bottom of the eighth to compete the WPI scoring.

Comei (2-for-2, walk) and Kelly both scored three times for the Engineers, while Zach Blanchard(Warwick, RI) (2-for-5) also starred. After Kelly slapped a two-run double to center field in the fifth, Blanchard followed by driving Kelly in to give Vaitkunas even more cushion.

The Wildcats' Alex Pezzuto (Hastings, NY) went 4-for-5 as JWU totaled 11 hits overall compared to WPI's 16. Pezzuto hit safely in the fifth and ninth innings as Johnson & Wales tacked on two runs in both. Jordan Pilarski (Garnet Valley, PA) hit a two-run single to left field in the ninth to bring across Pezzuto and complete the scoring as the late rally came up short.

WPI jumps right back into the fray with a doubleheader Saturday at Wheaton in its NEWMAC opener, with games scheduled for 11:30am and 2:30pm. Johnson & Wales will play a Saturday doubleheader as well, hosting Mass Maritime for games at noon and 2:30pm.

Release by Carl Setterlund - WPI Athletics Intern - Emerson '14