WPI Surges Past Fitchburg State, 18-6
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Fitchburg St. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
|
WPI | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | X | 18 | 20 | 1 |
Cutler and Drury collect two hits each for Falcons in non-conference setback
NORTHBORO, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University baseball team was in action this afternoon, dropping a tough 18-6 decision to the Engineers of WPI in non-conference action at the New England Baseball Complex.
Fitchburg State opened the scoring in the top of the third when sophomore Andrew Mooney drew a two-out walk and crossed the plate on an RBI double to left center of the bat of classmate Nathan Littman for the 1-0 lead.
WPI answered with three runs in the bottom half of the third as sophomore Evan Lacroix, senior Vinny D'Ambrosio and junior Nick Comei connected on back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases before senior Alex Venditti drove in Lacroix with a ground and D'Ambrosio and Comei came around on a fielding miscue for the 3-1 margin.
The Green and Gold cut the lead to 3-2 in the following inning when junior Steven Drury Jr. doubled to right center and senior Robert Lewis III brought home Drury with base hit. The Engineers upped its advantage in the bottom of the fourth on a run scoring single from Comei and an RBI ground by Venditti to make the score 5-2.
The Crimson and Gray added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth as senior DJ Ouellette singled up the middle, moved to second on a throwing miscue before The Falcons rallied for two runs in the top of the sixth when Littman singled, advanced to third on double by senior Brendan Cutler, while Drury knocked in both Littman and Cutler with a two-run single to center to cut the lead to 8-4.
The hosts put the game out of reach, combining for ten runs on eight hits in the sixth and seventh innings, en-route to the 18-6 final.
Cutler paced the Falcons, going 2-for-3 with a double, one run scored and two RBI, while Drury finished 2-for-3 at the dish with two runs batted in, a double and one run scored. For WPI, Lacroix hit 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBI, while Comei went 3-for-6 with one run scored and a pair runs batted in.
On the mound, junior Andrew Lessard took the loss, allowing eight runs (4 earned) on ten hits and one strikeout in 4.2 innings of work for Fitchburg State, while freshman Doug Rives picked up the win for the Engineers, pitching one inning of relief, yielding one run on one hits with one K.
Fitchburg State (5-10, 0-0 MASCAC) will be back in action tomorrow as it hosts the Cougars of Clark University for a contest starting at 3 p.m. WPI (14-7, 2-1 NEWMAC) will hosts the Beavers of Babson College on Saturday for a double header starting at 12 p.m.