Northboro, MA --- Senior Josh Herlands (Glastonbury, CT) drove in three runs, including the final two, in game one and classmate Austin Lindner (Princeton Jct., NJ) was 2-for-2 with two walks, a home run, three RBI and a run scored in game two as the WPI baseball team took a NEWMAC doubleheader with scores of 7-5 and 9-4 over vising Emerson Saturday at the New England Baseball Complex.
The Engineers end the day 16-5 overall and 2-1 in conference play. The Lions, meanwhile, slip to 4-16 and 0-5.
Emerson sophomore Ryan McCahan (San Jose, CA) and WPI graduate student Matt Howard (Worcester, MA) traded two-out RBI in the first before junior Cam Beattie (Gilbert, AZ) and senior Steven Gallagher (Coventry, RI) plated a run for their respective clubs in the third. The fifth inning featured productive outs by freshman Quinton Copeland (Houston, TX) and Herlands (sac fly).
Junior Tyrone Patterson (Upper Marlboro, MD) interrupted the pattern with an RBI single in the sixth. Senior Benjamin Chaffee (Franklin, MA) followed with a bases-loaded walk in the seventh.
Each side went on to score a pair in the eighth as senior CJ Rogers (Guilford, CT) connected on a two-run shot to tie the game, and Herlands put the Engineers in front for good with a with a two-out two-run single. The Lions were then retired in order in the ninth for the 7-5 final.
Gallagher finished with a game-high three hits, followed by Patterson (double) and senior Ryan Tropeano (Pembroke, MA) with two each. Junior David Larson (Port Tobacco, MD) walked three times and added a triple for the Engineers.
Senior Tyler Weiss (Monroe, CT) struck out three in the start. Freshman Andrew Dupuis (Raymond, NH) went two innings before junior Nick Colucci (Lynnfield, MA) came in and collected the win and senior Dominic Fusco (North Haven, CT) struck out a pair en route to the save.
McCahan also had three hits in the opener. Beattie along with freshmen Josh Cohen (Corte Madera, CA) and Louie Davolio (Worcester, MA) all registered a pair of hits. Copeland, McCahan and senior Ethan Young (Amherst, MA) connected on a double to go with Rogers' home run.
Senior Brian Fisher (Norwell, MA) absorbed the decision while classmate Anthony Pugliese (Massapequa, NY) began the game for the Lions. Sophomore Gabe Fields (Needham, MA) and freshman Michael Logerwell (Kansas City, MO) also made a relief appearance.
Emerson once again took the initial lead, this time on a Cohen double down the left field line in the third. Lindner then put the Engineers ahead with a two-run jack to left in the bottom of the frame.
Larson and sophomore Jordan DeDonato (Danvers, MA) each homered and Lindner plated another with a single for the 5-1 advantage through four.
Back-to-back hits by Copeland and Cohen in the fifth cut the deficit to one only to see WPI counter with a two-run single by DeDonato, who also went on to score on a miscue for the 8-4 margin. Larson, who batted 3-for-5 with a pair of extra-base hits, RBI and runs scored, had the final say offensively with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth.
In addition to Larson, Tropeano, Patterson, DeDonato (3 RBI) and Lindner (3 RBI) were members of the multi-hit club. Junior Nick Tagaris (New City, NY) struck out three in the victory and was joined on the mound by freshman Ryan Malkowski (Hubbardston, MA) who struck out five, and junior Kyle Wood (Hauppauge, NY).
Copeland and Cohen (2 doubles, 3 RBI) paced Emerson with three hits while Beattie and junior Joe Paladino (Bedminster, NJ) each registered two for the Lions. Junior Sam Knox (Sturbridge, MA), senior Tim Mainella (Dover, NH), freshman Bryan Simmons-Hayes (Natick, MA), sophomore Nick Rempe (Islip, NY) and senior Noah Zimmerman (Queens, NY) all pitched for the guests.
The Engineers are scheduled to head to MIT for an 11am twinbill tomorrow. The Lions are at Coast Guard Tuesday for a 3:30pm single game.