Northboro, MA --- The WPI baseball team used a big sixth inning to grab a 7-2 win over NEWMAC-rival Springfield at the New England Baseball Complex on Friday afternoon. WPI evens its record to 13-13 overall, going to 2-5 in conference play, while the Pride is 7-15-1, 1-6 in the NEWMAC.
WPI's Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) was 2-for-3 with two RBI while Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ) also drove in a pair of runs. Gavin George (Salem, NH) added two hits, two runs, and an RBI, while Jack Zawacki (Pittsford, NY) also drove in a run. Everett Wonson (Wenham, MA) moved to 3-1 on the season, pitching eight strong innings, allowing two runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts, Noah Pins (Holden, MA) pitched a scoreless ninth, working around one hit.
For Springfield, Joe Traversa (Pittsfield, MA), Ryan Sorgi (Braintree, MA), Michael Lepere (Beacon, NY), and Cole Zalegowski (North Haven, CT) all collected two hits, with Lepere and Cadin Maynard (Waterford, CT) driving in the only runs.
A four-hit first inning started the game for the Pride, as they jumped out to a 2-0 advantage. Traversa got things started with a triple and was driven home on a single to center by Maynard. Sorgi followed with a ground-rule double putting runners on second and third with one out before a sac fly from Lepere made it 2-0. A walk loaded the bases, but the Engineers got a strikeout to end the threat.
Neither team got much offense going until the bottom of the fifth when WPI cut the deficit to 2-1. A one-out hit by pitch, a single from George, and a fielder's choice put runners on first and third with two outs before Hand doubled down the left field line to score Burns.
The Engineers pushed four runs across in their next at-bat to take a 5-2 lead after six. Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY) doubled to lead off the frame and Kyle DeRoma (Dracut, MA) was hit by a pitch but a strike out and a fly out had Springfield close to getting out of the jam. WPI rallied with a Burns double that plated a pair before George singled to make it 4-2. A walk and another hit batter loaded the bases and George scored the fifth WPI run on a wild pitch before a flyout ended the inning.
In the top of the eighth, Sogi doubled and Lepere singled with one out while a groundout put runners on second and third with two down. However, Wonson struck the next batter out looking to preserve the three-run advantage.
WPI added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, George was hit by a pitch and Nicholas Battaglino (Marlboro, MA) singled to right before stealing second, setting up a sac fly from Hand. Zawacki followed with a double to push another run across, making it 7-2.
In the top of the ninth, Pins worked around a lead-off double from Zalegowski and a walk by getting the next three batters in order to seal the win for the Engineers.
WPI and Springfield will wrap up their regular season series tomorrow with a doubleheader at Springfield beginning at noon.