Winter Haven, FL --- The WPI baseball team opened their 2020 season with a pair of low-scoring victories, sweeping a doubleheader against 2019 NCAA Division III World Series participant Washington & Jefferson on Sunday at Chain O'Lakes Stadium.
The Engineers, who did not commit an error on the day, won the opener 2-0 and then closed out the day with a 3-1 win in game two.
WPI (2-0) has another doubleheader planned for tomorrow. The Engineers will tangle with Greenville (IL) in Auburndale, Florida with a 2:30pm first pitch planned.
Washington & Jefferson falls to 1-4 on the season.
Game 1: WPI 2, Washington & Jefferson 0
David Larson (Port Tobacco, MD) threw six shutout innings and also collected an RBI on WPI's only hit of the day to power the Engineers to a win in their opening game of the season.
WPI scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning and both teams put up zeroes the rest of the way, as the two sides each got strong pitching performances, with only three combined hits in the contest.
Larson allowed just two hits and struck out seven, including fanning the side in the third inning.
In the first, he singled through the right side to score Andrew Brooks (Millis, MA), who had started the inning by getting to second on a two-base error in left field. Jordan DeDonato (Danvers, MA) plated Tyrone Patterson (Upper Marlboro, MD), who had followed Brooks with a walk, by grounding out to third base to earn his first RBI of the year.
Nick Colucci (Lynnfield, MA) threw a scoreless seventh inning with one strikeout to earn his first save of the year and second of his career.
Ben Marisco (Bradford Woods, PA) took a hard-luck loss for W&J. He allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out five in a six-inning complete game. Marisco surrendered just one earned run, but fell to 0-2 on the year.
Designated hitter Michael Zito (Nashville, TN) had both hits for Washington and Jefferson, a single up the middle in the third, in which he also stole a base but was stranded at second, and a two-out single in the top of the fifth.
Game 2: WPI 3, Washington & Jefferson 1
The Engineers again struck early, scoring single runs in each of the first two innings, and got more solid pitching to earn the sweep of the Presidents.
In his collegiate debut, Everett Wonson (Wenham, MA) went six innings and gave up just one run on three hits while striking out four.
Larson was the early catalyst for the second straight game, taking a walk in the first before eventually scoring on a play in which DeDonato stole second.
Second baseman Kyle Wood (Hauppage, NY) doubled the lead in the second inning, scoring on a single up the middle by Ben Seeto (Clinton, MA) after walking to lead off the inning.
Wonson kept the Presidents off balance, allowing just one hit through the first five scoreless innings. W&J broke through in the sixth when an RBI triple by second baseman Joey Bolick (Gibsonia, PA) plated shortstop Nate Rush (Wheeling, WV), who had singled down the right field line with one out in the frame.
WPI added an insurance run with an unearned run in the seventh, and Dylan Connors (Westboro, MA) closed the door with a scoreless bottom of the frame for his first career save.