Auburndale, FL --- Friday's baseball doubleheader with St. Joseph's (ME) resulted in a split series with the Engineers taking game one with an 8-0 shutout of the Monks before falling 10-5 in game two.
Everett Wonson (York, ME) picked up his first victory of the season with a six inning, seven strikeout performance allowing just four hits and no runs. Noah Pins (Holden, MA) picked up the save, the team's first of the year, sitting down the Monks 1-2-3 to seal the victory. Andrew Brooks netted his fourth homerun in four games with a fifth-inning blast, ultimately scoring two of the team's eight runs on the day.
Game two featured a pair of Engineers with multi-hit efforts as Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) finished with a 2-for-3 effort, driving in a run while Andrew Cash (Marlboro, MA) added a perfect 2-for-2 effort, driving in one and stealing a base.
GAME ONE
WPI's first, and ultimately game-winning, run came in the fourth inning. Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY) started things off with a double, advancing to third after a throwing error. He came around to score a couple of batters later on an RBI double to center field by Kyle Johns (Milltown, NJ).
Brooks' homerun netted WPI's lone run of the fifth inning, blasting a shot to right field.
The majority of the team's offense came in the sixth inning, however, as the first three batters to step to the plate reached base, loading things up for Martin McCormack (Quincy, MA) who sent a sacrifice fly to right field driving in Dylan Connors (Westboro, MA).
The following batter, Brooks, struck out, but reached first as the wild pitch sailed away, also allowing Hand to cross the plate. Brennan ripped his second double of the game, clearing the bases and giving WPI an 8-0 lead and, after Pins' 1-2-3 seventh inning, the victory.
GAME TWO
Saint Joseph's was the first to strike in game two putting four runs up in the bottom of the first inning. A double to center field brought home the leadoff hitter who walked to start the game off. Three-straight singles brought in another pair of runs while a fielder's choice brought home the fourth run of the inning, via four hits while the Monks left two on base.
The Engineers halved the lead in the next half inning, starting off the second with a walk, followed by a single to left by Hand. McCormack reached on a fielder's choice and both he and Johns moved up a base on an error by the Monk second baseman. A single from Cash brought home the first run of the game while Kyle DeRoma (Dracut, MA) drove in the other run of the inning via a sacrifice fly.
The Engineers got another one back as McCormack doubled to right field driving in Johns and after St. Josephs answered in the bottom half of the inning, WPI added another pair of runs to the total to even the score at five-all. A groundout by Johns to second base brought home Brooks while Hand singled to first base a batter later, bringing home Brennan.
But in the bottom half of the fifth inning, St. Josephs sealed its victory with a five-run inning via a pair of homeruns from Cliff Ward (Cohasset, MA) and Ben Gravel (Rochester, NH) en route to the 10-5 win.
The Engineers are back in action on Saturday morning with the team's final doubleheader of the RussMatt Invitational taking on St. Norbert starting at 10 am in Leesburg, FL.