WORCESTER --- The WPI baseball team won three of its four games this weekend against Clark after a doubleheader sweep on Sunday.
The Engineers even up their season record at 4-4. The two teams split their games at WPI on Saturday afternoon before earning 7-2 and 7-5 wins on Sunday at Clark in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action.
Game 1: WPI 7, Clark 2
TJ Dellacroce (Waxhaw, NC) hit an RBI triple to break a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth and the Engineers exploded for five runs over the final two frames to earn the 7-2 victory.
DellaCroce came in to score on an RBI single by DJ Brooks (Danvers, MA), who then scored on a base hit by Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY), who was 3-5 in the contest.
Clark was held to just five hits, two of them by right fielder Zachary Gitschier (Lowell, MA), who scored on an RBI single by Andrew Thibault (Nashua, NH) in the bottom of the third to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Dylan Connors (Westboro, MA), who had two hits for WPI, drove home Andrew Brooks (Millis, MA) with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and again with a double in the seventh, but the Cougars tied the game again at two in the bottom of the frame.
With one out in the eighth, Nick Rath (Medford, MA) was hit by a pitch, and he put the Engineers in front for good when he crossed the plate on Dellacroce's triple. With two outs, WPI strung together three straight singles to add to their lead.
DJ Brooks plated two more runs in the ninth with a double.
WPI employed three pitchers in the contest, each hurling three innings. Owen Radcliff (Holliston, MA) earned the win after striking out three over the final three innings. Starter Dylan Connors gave up just one run over the first three frames, while Griffin St. Onge (Litchfield, NH) was perfect in the middle third, with one strikeout.
Torsten Sloan Anderson (Shelburne Falls, MA) struck out seven batters and allowed only one hit and one run through 4.1 innings for Clark.
Game 2: WPI 7, Clark 5
Brennan had four more hits and drove in a pair of runs as the Engineers built a 7-0 lead, but WPI had to withstand a late surge by the Cougars that saw them leave the tying runs on base at the end of the game.
Brennan and right fielder Lucas Kamal (Orlando, FL) were each 4-5 on the day, while DJ Brooks had two hits and scored twice, both times on RBI singles by Brenann. Brooks also tripled home Kamal in the top of the sixth, which at the time made it 3-0 WPI.
Nick Jordan (Seaford, NY) drove in three runs in a 2-5 day, including a sacrifice fly in the eighth and a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth. Connor Rulnick (Middlefield, CT) crossed the plate on both occasions.
Rulnick was 1-1 with two walks, but the Engineers were able to outhit Clark 14-9 and take advantage of 4 Clark errors.
Alexander Mondro (Westford, MA) pitched three scoreless and hitless innings for the Engineers. Mondro allowed just one baserunner and struck out four batters. Mark Bernardo (Westwood, MA), Joseph Peregrim (Watervliet, NY), Gavin Maloney (W. Boylston, MA) and Jeremy Rhines (Plainville, MA) joined Mondro in throwing scoreless innings. Bernardo earned the victory, while Matt Penkala (Warren, RI) picked up his second save of the year by getting the final out of the game.
Clark starter Kevin Irwin (Pakkret, Nonthaburi) suffered the loss, despite allowing just one run and striking out two without walking anyone.
Michael Carterud (Longmeadow, MA) threw two innings of strong relief, as the Cougars staff struck out 7 batters and allowed just two walks on the day.
The Engineers (4-4) make the short trip home to gear up for a doubleheader against Emerson next Saturday at noon. Clark (1-7) will host Springfield College on Saturday, April 24th at noon.