Myrtle Beach, SC --- The WPI baseball team made it a 4-0 start to the 2024 season with a 19-2 victory over Cairn on Tuesday afternoon at the Myrtle Beach Tournament. The loss dips the Highlanders to 2-3 on the young season.
The Engineers turned a 3-0 game into a blowout, combining for 16 runs in the eighth and ninth innings. The WPI bats stayed hot, combining for 15 hits in the game, while starting pitcher Joseph Peregrim (Watervliet, NY) tossed a gem. He went seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, while striking out three to nab his first win of the season.
Offensively, Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) drove in four runs on the day, while Andrew Cash (Marlboro, MA) picked up three hits with three RBI. Matt Shea (Andover, MA) and Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ) drove in two runs each, while Zachary Roethlein (Pomfret Center, CT) had three hits and Gavin George (Salem, NH) added a pair of doubles.
Also for WPI, Jack Mahoney (Stoneham, MA) and Axel Foss (Worcester, MA) pitched innings in relief, allowing one run apiece.
For Cairn, Isaac Peterson (Ocean City, NJ) and Donald Kennedy (Cincinnati, OH) recorded the lone RBIs, with Peterson, Zach Bauers (Cooper City, FL), Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA), and Zachary Johnson (Hawaii Kai, HI) accounting for the only hits.
Mikey Gutierrez (Cooper City, FL) got the start for the Highlanders, going five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with seven strikeouts.
The Engineers dented the scoreboard in the top of the third inning after singles from Roethlein and Liam Keblin (Newton, MA), and a Hand hit by pitch loaded the bases. Roethlein then made it a 1-0 game by scoring on a wild pitch.
Roethlein scored another run for the Engineers in the top of the fifth, leading off the inning with a single. After a walk and a passed ball, he scored on a sacrifice fly from Hand to make it 2-0 WPI.
The Engineers pushed the score to 3-0 in the top of the seventh inning, as a lead-off single from Keblin came around to score on a Cash triple.
WPI tacked on seven runs in the top of the eighth inning, using five hits and an error to make it a 10-0 game. Burns and Hand each drove in two runs in the frame, while Roethlein and Cash also added RBI.
Cairn used a two-out rally to get on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Johnson started things with a single to left before a walk from Tyler Fox (Boyertown, PA) set up an RBI single off the bat of Peterson. A ground-out then ended the frame for the WPI.
The Engineers' bats stayed hot in the top of the ninth, piling on nine more runs to make it 19-1. Shea had two RBI in the inning, while George doubled in a run. DJ Brooks (Danvers, MA) and Cash each added RBI singles, while Mark Blazejowski (Oak Hill, VA), Keblin, and Hand had RBI walks.
The Highlanders got a run in the bottom of the ninth to set the final to 19-2, as Kennedy worked a bases-loaded walk before WPI closed out the game.
WPI continues tournament action tomorrow against Neumann at 1:30pm. Cairn next plays on Thursday, taking on Johnson & Wales at 7:30pm.