Norton, MA --- The WPI baseball team dropped a pair of close non-conference games Sunday at No. 19 Wheaton College's Sidell Stadium.
The Crimson and Gray sees their record drop to 6-8 on the season after falling 8-6 in the opening game and 3-2 in the nightcap. Wheaton heads into the NEWMAC tournament next weekend with a record of 12-2.
Game 1: Wheaton 8, WPI 6
WPI had leads of 3-1 and 6-4 but Wheaton scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and two more in the bottom of the eighth to secure the victory.
Engineers right fielder Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) was 3-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Ben Seeto (Clinton, MA) and Michael Fraser (Mashpee, MA) also had multi-hit days for the Engineers.
Wheaton was led by the 4-4 performance of right fielder Jacob Studley (Barrington, RI) and a 2-4 day from center fielder Brody Ashley (Strafford, NH), who scored three runs.
Hand's ground-rule double in the fourth gave WPI a 3-1 lead after Zach DeMattio (N. Attleboro, MA) had given the Lyons the lead in the first with an RBI single to score Ashley.
The Lyons re-took the lead with three runs in the fifth, including a run-scoring single by Patrick Santorella (Scituate, MA).
Dylan Connors (Westboro, MA) gave WPI the edge again when his single to left field in the top of the seventh scored two runs and capped off a three-run inning.
The Lyons, however, wasted no time in tying the game. An RBI groundout by DeMattio and a triple to right center by Mark D'Augelli (Redding, CT) knotted the score at 6, and Studley, who scored on the triple, lifted a sacrifice fly in the eighth to score Ashley, the second run of the inning for the Lyons.
Lyons pitchers struck out ten batters while issuing just two walks and only one of the six runs allowed was earned. Stephen Quigley (Halifax, MA) struck out seven batters and didn't walk anyone over six innings of work. Paul Prue (Dennis, MA) got the victory with an inning and two-thirds of one-run ball, and Josh Roberge (Chelmsford, MA) closed out his second save of the year with a perfect ninth.
Owen Radcliffe (Holliston, MA) fell to 2-1 on the year. Radcliffe, in relief of Alexander Mondro (Westford, MA), who struck out five over five innings, allowed four runs (three earned) in his three frames.
Game 2: Wheaton 3, WPI 2
Connors was 2-4 with a run scored in the season finale, but Wheaton scored twice in the fourth and held on to their lead over the next five innings.
Ashley and DeMattio each doubled in runs for the Lyons, who outhit WPI 7-6. WPI scored their runs on a throwing error in the fifth, when Clayton Hanlon (Harvard, MA) crossed the plate, and a wild pitch, which brought home Connors in the eighth.
Mulcahey got Wheaton on the board first when he singled home Andrew Spirito (Cranston, RI) in the fourth off WPI starter Matt Penkala (Warren, RI), who gave up two runs over our innings and struck out three.
Ashley doubled their lead with a two-bagger down the left field line. After Hanlon came in to cut the WPI deficit in half, DeMattio answered with a double to score Studley in the bottom of the fifth, which would eventually be the game-winning run.
Wheaton starter John Mikosz (Southington, CT) got his first decision of the year (1-0) after giving up a single unearned run while striking out five over five innings. Roberge earned another save, his third of the year.
Mark Bernardo (Westwood, MA) allowed just one run in an inning of work for the Engineers, while Jack Gomes (Newport, RI), Noah Pins (Holden, MA) and Andrew Gray (Millersville, MD) combined for three innings of shutout ball to finish out the weekend.