Springfield, MA --- Nick Comei (Haverhill, MA) collected his 100th and 101st career hit as WPI defeated host Springfield in the NEWMAC Baseball West Division series opener, 12-4, on Berry-Allen Field Friday.
With the loss, Springfield falls to 11-19-1 on the season, with a conference mark of 4-11, while the Engineers improve to 23-10 overall, 10-5 in the league.
Starting his final game on Berry-Allen Field, senior Dan Green (Oakland, NJ) pitched 6.2 innings and struck out two, while Joey Gamache (Lebanon, CT) came on in relief, and pitched the final 1.1 innings, picking up a pair of strikeouts.
For the Engineers, Steven D'Agostino (Shrewsbury, MA) earned his sixth win of the year, pitching 6.0 innings, giving up just four earned runs while striking out eight Pride batters. Dan Bettigole (South Windsor, CT) came on to pitch the final two frames, holding Springfield to just two hits and no runs.
At the plate, Corey Wilcox (Uncasville, CT) became three hits closer to 100 in his career, as he went 3-for-5 on the day, bringing his total to 97 with three games remaining. Additionally, Mike Jamieson (New Milford, CT) went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Billy Peterson (West Wareham, MA) was 2-for-4 with one run scored.
WPI was jumpstarted by a seven-run top of the first inning including a grand slam from John Mulready (Rockland, MA), before adding a pair more in the top of the second following a two-run single from Anthony Capuano (Stoneham, MA) to take a 9-0 lead over the Pride.
Springfield got on the board in the bottom half of the frame, when Jamieson led off with a single, before he was driven in via an RBI-single from Kyle Allen (Westerly, RI) to make it 9-1, Engineers.
The Pride would tack on a pair more in the bottom of the third, when Evan Moore (Portsmouth, RI) and Wilcox reached on back-to-back singles, before being pushed over on a ground out to the pitcher from JP Peters (Guilford, CT). Next up, Jamieson drilled a two-run single to left field to cut the Pride's deficit to six.
Following a lead-off single from Mulready in the top of the fourth, Steven Gallagher (Coventry, RI) poked a double over the head of Wilcox in center to push WPI's lead to seven, before a single from Joe Fainer (Thomaston, CT) plated Gallagher to make it 11-3, WPI.
The Pride added a run in the bottom of the sixth when Peterson reached on a single, before Colin King (Berlin, CT) drew a walk, and Moore knocked a single to left, scoring Peterson from second to make it 11-4, Engineers.
After WPI scored in the top of the seventh to push its lead back to eight, and Bettigole was able to keep the Pride's bats quiet to seal the win for WPI.
Springfield will travel to Clark University to play a pair with the Engineers on Saturday, as the doubleheader will be played at Granger Field starting at 3:30 p.m.
Release Courtesy Springfield Sports Information