Northboro, MA --- The WPI baseball team swept a doubleheader against Saint Joseph's of Maine with matching 6-2 wins on Saturday at the New England Baseball Complex. The Engineers improve to 8-5 with their third-straight victory, while the Monks dip to 2-8 on the season.
WPI's Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY) was hot in both games, finishing the day 4-for-6 with seven RBI including a double and a grand slam, his second homerun of the season. Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) went 3-for-5 between the two games, with three runs scored, a pair of RBI, and his first homerun of the year.
On the mound for the Engineers, Everett Wonson (Wenham, MA) got the win in game one, tossing 5.2 innings, allowing six hits and one earned run with nine strikeouts. Owen Radcliffe (Holliston, MA) went four innings in game two, allowing one run on four hits with five K's, while Matt Penkala (Warren, RI) earned the save, going three innings, allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts.
For the Monks, Zach Miles (Concord, NH) went 3-for-6 on the day, while Logan Dee (Laconia, NH) and Michael Wearne (Ellington, CT) each picked up two hits, with Wearne adding an RBI.
GAME ONE
Though Saint Joseph's had the early advantage, WPI put up three runs each in the third and fifth innings to grab a 6-2 win.
The Monks used two hits and a WPI error to go up 1-0 in the top of the first. Singles from Jack Moltenbrey (East Longmeadow, MA) and Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, CT) set up a fielder's choice from Jonathan Dube (Rochester, NH) with an Engineer error allowing Moltenbrey to cross the plate for an unearned run. WPI's Wonson was able to limit the damage, however, getting a fly out and a ground out to end the inning.
The 1-0 lead stood until a three-run bottom of the third for WPI. After a groundout started the frame, the Engineers loaded the bases on a DJ Brooks (Danvers, MA), a walk to Nicholas Battaglino (Marlboro, MA), while Hand was hit by a pitch. Brennan drove in the first WPI run on a single to left, while an RBI walk to Kyle Johns (Milltown, NJ) made it 2-1. Kyle DeRoma (Dracut, MA) pushed it to 3-1 on a sac fly before a strikeout ended the frame.
WPI tacked on three more in the bottom of the fifth using four hits and a Saint Joseph's error to go up 6-1. Battaglino and Hand started the inning with singles, with both runners moving up on a throwing error. Brennan then laced a double to left center to score both runners making it 5-1. After a ground out and a fly out, Andrew Cash (Marlboro, MA) doubled down the left field line to push the advantage to 6-1.
Saint Joseph's got one run back in the top of the sixth, as an Alex Moore (Henniker, NH) single scored Jordan Valentino (Simsbury, CT) who reached on a walk. Eric DePiero (Beverly, MA) came on in relief and retired the final batter of the frame to end the threat.
The Monks had a runner on in the top of the seventh, but reliever Noah Pins (Holden, MA) worked around a two-out single to seal the win for WPI.
GAME TWO
A five-run bottom of the fourth was the difference maker for WPI, as the Engineers completed the sweep with a 6-2 win in the nightcap.
The teams traded runs early in the game with a solo homerun from WPI's Hand in the bottom of the third and an RBI single from SJC's Jackson Stanton (Saugus, MA) in the top of the fourth to set the score to 1-1.
WPI broke the game open with a five-run bottom of the fourth. Cash walked to open the frame while Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ) singled to put two on with no outs. After back-to-back strikeouts, a walk to Brooks loaded the bases. Another walk, this one from Hand, pushed the score to 2-1 before Brennan's grand slam made it 6-1 WPI.
In the top of the seventh, singles from Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, CT) and Dee started the frame for the Monks. After a strikeout and a groundout, Wearne singled to center to cut the lead to 6-2, but Penkala got the final batter of the game on a ground out.
The Engineers have Sunday off but begin a string of three straight games, starting with a Monday affair against Suffolk at the New England Baseball Complex at 3pm. The Monks play at Endicott on Tuesday the first pitch set for 3:30pm.
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