WORCESTER -- The WPI baseball team dropped a pair of NEWMAC games to visiting Coast Guard on Saturday at the New England Baseball Complex. The Bears won game one, 10-8, and took game two, 11-5, to move to 15-7 overall, 5-2 in conference play. The Engineers fell to 15-11, 3-4 NEWMAC with the loss.
Game One
A wild game one went to the Bears, who scored the final seven runs of the game in a 10-8 victory. For WPI, Eric DePiero (Beverly, MA) suffered the loss, coming on in relief to allow one earned run on two hits in 1.1 innings of work. Owen Radcliffe (Holliston, MA) struck out 10 batters in 6.2 innings but allowed eight runs on 12 hits.
Offensively for the Engineers, Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) finished with a double and a triple, while driving in three runs. Liam Keblin (Newton, MA) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Zachary Roethlein (Pomfret Center, CT) had two hits and an RBI and Jack Zawacki (Pittsford, NY) launched his first home run of the season. Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ), Andrew Cash (Marlboro, MA), and DJ Brooks (Danvers, MA) each drove in runs in the loss.
For Coast Guard, Sean Rojas (San Antonio, TX) picked up the win in relief, tossing three and a third innings, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts. Ryan Karman (Sayville, NY) earned his third save of the season, going two innings allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.
At the plate for the Bears, Nathan Stafford (Jupiter, FL) and Richard Barkley (Bellevue, WA) each finished with three RBI, while Carson Cho (Haymarket, VA) had four hits and drove in one run. Charles Red (Panama City, FL) and Wyatt Duthu (Madison, AK) each added two hits in the win.
WPI jumped out to a 4-0 lead, as an RBI single from Roethlein in the first started the scoring. In the second, the Engineers made it 2-0 on a Coast Guard error, while Cash added a sac fly and Burns an RBI single to put the hosts up four.
Coast Guard made it a 4-3 game with three in the top of the third. Cho doubled to left to bring home the first run, while a Stafford sac fly and a Parker Madden (Ruston, LA) infield single cut the deficit to one.
The Engineers quickly padded the lead, adding three in the bottom of the third and one in the fifth to make it an 8-3 game. In the third it was a three-RBI triple from Hand that drove in the runs, while in the fifth, Zawacki's solo dinger put the hosts up five.
From there, Coast Guard scored the next seven runs to close out the game with the win. The Bears hit three homers in the seventh inning, putting up a six spot. Stafford started the rally with an RBI single before Barkley hit a three-run home run to left center to cut the lead to 8-7. John Tacchini (Klamath Falls, OR) and Red followed with home runs of their own, as Coast Guard went back-to-back-to-back.
The Bears got an insurance run in the top of the eighth on a Stafford sacrifice fly to make it 10-8. Karman then worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to preserve the win.
Game Two
Coast Guard jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never trailed as the Bears finished out the sweep with an 11-5 victory.
Luke Blandino (Eden, NY) took the loss, going four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. Offensively, Cash drove in two runs on his eighth home run of the season, while Hand had two hits, including his team-leading 10th home run. Burns also drove in a run, while Roethlein, Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, CT), and Matt Shea (Andover, MA) all collected two hits each.
Harrison Milbert (Kingston, MA) picked up the win for Coast Guard, going 6.1 innings, allowing three runs off of nine hits with nine strikeouts. Duthu led the Bears at the plate in game two, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. Stafford had two hits and two RBI, while Kael Godshalk (Bangor, PA) had two hits with an RBI.
Coast Guard got their bats going in the top of the second putting up five runs. Godshalk kicked things off with an RBI single through the right side and then stole second with another run scoring on the play. Duthu and Stafford then added back-to-back doubles to make it 5-0.
WPI got one back in the bottom of the third on a throwing error, but the Bears answered with one in the top of the fourth on another RBI double from Stafford.
The Engineers cut into the lead once again with an RBI ground-out from Burns in the bottom of the fifth, closing the gap to 6-2.
Coast Guard scored two runs each in the top of the sixth and seventh innings to open up a 10-2 lead. In the sixth, a sac fly from Madden and Cho scoring on a wild pitch accounted for the scoring, while in the seventh, the Bears took advantage of an error and then got a Duthu RBI ground out to lead by eight.
WPI made it 10-4 in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run homer from Cash that scored Hand. However, the Bears added a run in the top of the ninth on an RBI double off the bat of Luke Percifield (Pinellas Park, FL).
In the bottom of the ninth, the Engineers got a run on a solo homer from Hand but were unable to push any more across.
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday with 3:30pm NEWMAC games. WPI hosts Emerson while Coast Guard will play at Wheaton.