New London, CT --- WPI faced big early inning deficits twice Saturday in a NEWMAC doubleheader at Coast Guard, but rallied in both contests and took game one 8-7 before seeing the hosts rally themselves for two in the bottom of the ninth before winning on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th in the night cap to salvage a split.
The Engineers rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win the opener and trailed in game two 5-0.
WPI is now 15-11 overall and 8-5 in conference play while the Bears are 11-16 overall and 6-7 in the NEWMAC. Coast Guard sits in the fifth and final NEWMAC tournament spot with four games to play in the regular season.
With the win on Friday, Coast Guard wins the season series with WPI. In the two-day, three-game weekend series, the western division-leading Crimson and Gray saw relievers toss 20 1/3 innings, while posting a 2.21 ERA
Sophomore Ed Lazowski (Mount Joy, PA) walked to lead off the 11th before he stole second. Freshman Kyle Jackson (Lincoln, RI) moved him to third with a ground out before the wild pitch ended the back-and-forth doubleheader.
WPI was one out away from a sweep when senior Dave Wolinski's (Henrico, VA) pinch hit RBI infield single scored sophomore Cory Sonnega to force the extra innings. Sonnega drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI single.
Coast Guard scored three in the first and led 5-0 after three innings before WPI scored six runs in the top of the fourth taking advantage of three walks and a hit batter, all of whom came around to score. Sophomore DJ Ouellette (Watertowm, CT) had a two-run double, freshman Nick Comei(Haverhill, MA) delivered an RBI single and sophomore Vinny D'Ambrosio (Mahopac, NY) gave his team the lead with an RBI double in the inning.
WPI tacked on a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Ouellette for a 7-5 lead.
The Bears got one back in the sixth on an RBI single by sophomore Mark Behne (Clifton, VA).
The Engineers took an 8-6 lead in the eighth scoring an unearned run before the Bears tied it in the ninth.
Sonnega was 4 for 6 in game two while sophomores Kyle Wood (Mt. Juliet, TN) and Matt Hanks(Chesapeake, VA) each added three hits as Coast Guard had 16 hits in the game two win.
D'Ambrosio and Ouelette each had three hits in the nightcap while Ouelette also drove in three runs.
Wood (1-2) got the win in relief as he pitched the final two innings and allowed just two hits. Freshman Justin Rebholz (Crestview, FL) was outstanding during the middle innings keeping Coast Guard in the game. He went six innings and allowed just four hits and two runs, just one earned while walking two and striking out three.
Freshman Luke Sniatkowski (Verona, NJ) started for the Bears and pitched three scoreless innings before losing the plate with a hit batter and three walks followed by a pair of hits to chase him from the game.
Freshman Dan Bettigole (South Windsor, CT) (1-1) took the loss in relief. He went 4 1/3 innings and allowed six hits and the three earned runs while walking three and fanning four.
Freshman Mike Duclos (Greenfield, MA) pitched six solid innings of relief as he came on in the first inning and allowed just a pair of earned runs.
In the opener, Coast Guard scored three in the first on with Wood delivering an RBI single and Wolinski lifting a sacrifice fly before adding three more in the second with an RBI single by Hanks and an RBI double by Wood for a 6-0 lead.
WPI got two in the fourth on a two-run double by sophomore Anthony Capuano (Stoneham, MA) to get on the board.
The Engineers added three in the fifth on an RBI ground out by D'Ambrosio, and RBI double by senior Sean Kelly (Shrewsbury, MA) and an RBI single by sophomore Sean Greene (Hingham, MA).
Coast Guard got one in the fifth on an RBI single by junior Dan Sabourin (St. Paul, MN) for a 7-5 lead.
WPI got one back in the sixth on an RBI single by Steve Petry (Worcester, MA) making the score 7-6.
The Engineers scored two in the ninth as Kelly tied the game with an RBI single before Greene's two-out RBI single proved to be the game winner.
Junior Andrew Portera (Alpharetta, GA) (1-1) picked up the win in relief as he worked three innings and allowed just one hit while walking three and striking out two.
Thompson (1-2) took the loss for the Bears as he allowed a pair of earned runs in the ninth.
Greene led the WPI 15-hit attack with three hits in the opener while Kelly, Petry and Ouelette each had two hits in the game one win for the Engineers.
Wood had three hits to lead Coast Guard in the first game. Thompson and Sonnega each added a pair of hits in the opener for the Bears.
Wood and Sonnega each had six hits during the doubleheader as Wood was 6 for 10 with a double and a pair or RBI's while Sonnega was 6 for 11 in the split.
Coast Guard is back in action on Tuesday when they play at Wheaton at 3:30pm in a NEWMAC game. WPI heads to MIT at the same time on Tuesday
Release Courtesy Coast Guard Sports Information