Northboro, MA --- WPI scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to overcome a 3-1 deficit and defeated Clark 8-4 in the opening game of their New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex.
The second game was a wild affair, with teams scoring in 13 of the 18 half-innings played. When the dust cleared, the Cougars emerged with an 18-13 victory to salvage a split of the day's twinbill.
Game 1: WPI 8, Clark 4
Andrew Brooks (Millis, MA) hit a three-run homer, one of three round-trippers of the day for WPI, to cap a seventh inning rally.
James Huber (Rochester, NY) had a huge day at the plate for Clark, going 4-5 with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Huber hit a two-run homer to right in the top of the fourth to break a scoreless tie, and then scored Chris Radovic (Fairfield, CT) for the second time on the day with a double to right center in the sixth.
Kyle Johns (Milltown, NJ) got WPI on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth.
The Engineers collected six of their nine hits during their seven-run seventh inning, in which they batted around.
They scored five runs with two outs in the inning, three on Andrew Brooks' homer to right field, and one on an RBI single to left by DJ Brooks (Danvers, MA).
Sophomore Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY) put an exclamation mark on the inning with a home run to left center.
First baseman Dylan Connors (Westboro, MA) had three hits and a run scored for the Engineers, who had eight different players account for their runs.
Everett Wonson (Wenham, MA) submitted a quality start for WPI. Wonson went six innings, allowing three runs and striking out two. Owen Radcliff (Holliston, MA) earned the win with a scoreless seventh inning, while Carter Bach (Albany, NY) went two innings in relief with a pair of strikeouts.
Jafar Vohra (Shelton, CT) struck out 11 batters over six innings of work for Clark, but was charged with four earned runs to take the loss (0-2).
Game 2: Clark 18, WPI 13
The Engineers (2-4) led 6-2 after three innings and 7-6 after five. The teams traded four-run innings in the sixth, but Clark tied the game with a single run in the seventh and then grabbed control with six runs in the eighth, including a two-run double by Steven Mooney (Buffalo, NY) and a two-run homer by Derek Lefebvre (Groton, MA).
It was the second home run of the game for Lefebvre, who went 3-5 at the plate, walked twice, scored three times and knocked in four.
Connors, Joe Salvon (Longmeadow, MA) and Michael Fraser (Mashpee, MA) each had three hits for the Engineers and accounted for eight runs batted in and eight runs scored. Connors and Salvon each went yard, a solo shot for Connors in the fourth and a two-run blast for Salvon in the eighth to pull the Engineers back within four.
Brennan knocked in three runs as well for WPI.
For the Cougars (1-5), Radovic opened the scoring with a solo homerun, and Huber had two more hits and scored twice.
Third baseman Billy Sullivan (Hicksville, NY) went 4-5 with two RBI's, and Andrew Thibault (Nashua, NH) was 3-5 with 2 RBIs and three runs scored.
Maxwell Gitlin (Manhattan Beach, CA) earned the win after tossing 1.1 innings of relief and striking out two. Nick Guarino (New Haven, CT) was perfect over the final 1.2 innings for the Cougars.
Andrew Dupuis (Raymond, NH) went the first three innings for WPI, striking out three batters without issuing a walk and allowing just two hits.
The teams will run it back tomorrow afternoon as they complete a home-and-home with a doubleheader at Clark. First pitch for game one of the non-conference twinbill has been moved to 11am in order to beat the forecasted afternoon rain.