Northboro, MA --- UMass Dartmouth scored four runs in the top of the ninth to stun WPI 7-5 on Thursday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex. The Corsairs improve to 11-10, while the Engineers fall to 11-13.
WPI's offense was led by Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, CT), who doubled and drove in a run while also stealing home. Andrew Cash (Marlboro, MA) recorded an RBI single and reached base twice, while Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ) scored a run, singled, and stole a base. Camden Willems (The Woodlands, TX) finished with a double and a run scored while Matt Shea (Andover, MA) added an RBI.
On the mound, Jacob Wiberg (Exeter, NH) started and struck out 11 over five innings of one-run ball. Ethan Smith (Hanson, MA) allowed two runs (one earned) in an inning of relief, while Eric DePiero (Beverly, MA) suffered the loss.
UMass Dartmouth was powered by Mike Maselli (Wilmington, MA) and Noah Scanlon-Dean (Hadley, MA), who hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth. Donavan Burgo (Dartmouth, MA) chipped in with an RBI, while Noah Bongiorno (Marion, MA) and Cole Whitehead (Gorham, ME) each had a pair of hits.
The Engineers jumped out to a 5-1 lead, beginning with a three-run first inning that featured a Lattimer RBI double, an RBI single from Cash, and Lattimer's steal of home.
WPI added a run in the second on Shea's squeeze bunt and made it 5-1 in the fourth when Burns scored on Cash's base hit.
UMass Dartmouth chipped away in the sixth. Austin Pagliettini (Crompond, NY) scored on a misplay at shortstop, and Nick Bartalini (Reading, MA) came home on a sacrifice by Burgo, trimming the deficit to 5-3.
The Corsairs completed the comeback in the ninth. Maselli launched a solo homer to right, followed immediately by a game-tying shot to left from Scanlon-Dean. After a walk and a single, Bongiorno scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, and an error on a strikeout allowed Aiden Hochwarter (Attleboro, MA) to cross the plate with an insurance run.
Trailing 7-5, WPI mounted a threat in the bottom of the ninth after Willems doubled and Burns reached on an error. But with runners on second and third and one out, Carter Scovill (East Hampton, CT) worked back-to-back strikeouts to strand both runners and secure the win.
Jordan Paradis (North Attleboro, MA) earned the win in relief for the Corsairs with a scoreless eighth inning. Scovill notched the save, working around a jam in the ninth.
WPI travels to Coast Guard on Friday to open a NEWMAC series at 3:30pm. UMass Dartmouth returns home for a Little East Conference doubleheader against Castleton, starting at noon on Friday.