Northboro, MA --- A three-run bottom of the 10th inning, including a game-winning sac fly from Spencer Merrick (Abington, MA) led the WPI baseball team to an 11-10 victory over Emerson in NEWMAC action at the New England Baseball Complex. The win lifts the Engineers to 16-11 overall, 4-4 in conference play, while the Lions move to 5-19, 2-9 in the NEWMAC.
WPI trailed 7-1 in the fifth and rallied to tie with a five-run seventh inning. However, Emerson scored in the top of the eighth, forcing another rally from the Engineers, this time culminating in a Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ) RBI single that tied the game at 8-8. The Lions fired back with two in the top of the 10th inning to go up 10-9, but WPI scored three in the bottom of the frame to walk off the game with Merrick's fly ball.
Burns led the Engineers with four RBI on two hits with two runs scored, including his fourth home run of the year. Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, CT) and Jake DelMonte (Southington, CT) each homered and drove in two, with Lattimer finishing with three hits. Hand knocked his team-leading 11th dinger of the season, while Zachary Roethlein (Pomfret Center, CT) had two hits and an RBI.
Owen Radcliffe (Holliston, MA) was the pitcher of record for the Engineers, earning the win with three innings, allowing two runs on two hits with two strikeouts. Aidan Rice (Columbus, OH) took the loss for Emerson, going 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on three hits with three walks.
Offensively for the Lions, Briggs Loveland (Burleson, TX) drove in three runs on two hits with a home run, while Braeden O'Connell (Boxford, MA) had two hits and two RBI. Ryan Herskowitz (Miami, FL) also homered and drove in a pair, while Chris Ferara (Coral Springs, FL), Tobey Roberts (West Tisbury, MA), and Jake Okamoto (Placentia, CA) each added RBI.
Emerson started the scoring in the top of the first inning, as Loveland notched an RBI groundout. Herskowitz made it 3-0 with a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Loveland added a solo homer in the top of the third to make it 4-0.
WPI cut it to 4-1 with a solo home run from Lattimer in the bottom of the third, but the Lions answered with two RBI off the bat of O'Connell in the top of the fourth to make it a 6-1 game.
Emerson pushed it to 7-1 on an RBI single in the top of the fifth, but WPI began to chip away. In the bottom of the frame, an infield single from Lattimer made it 7-2, before a five-run Engineers' seventh inning knotted the game at 7-7.
A three-run shot from Burns to left field started the WPI scoring in the seventh, while two batters later, DelMonte tied it up with a two-run dinger to right.
In the eighth, a sac fly from Ferara put Emerson back on top, but an RBI single from Burns in the bottom of the inning tied the game back up at 8-8.
After a scoreless ninth for both teams, the Lions put themselves in the driver's seat with two runs in the top of the 10th inning. A bases-loaded ground-out from Loveland made it 9-8, while a fielder's choice from Roberts pushed it to 10-8 before Radcliffe forced a ground-out to limit the damage.
In the WPI half of the 10th, Hand led off with a solo home run to right to close it to 10-9, before Roethlein singled through the left side to tie the game at 10-10. After a Lattimer single off the wall and a strikeout, the bases were loaded with one out, setting up Merrick's walk-off sac fly that plated Burns for the game-winning run.
WPI has a single game at Roger Williams on Thursday at 3pm, Emerson is also back in action on Thursday, heading to Bridgewater State for a 3:30pm start.