Baseball Rallies for Two Wins
Leopards fall behind 4-0 before defeating Penn State-Altoona by a 9-5 score and come back from a 10-3 first inning deficit to defeat the Lions 19-12 in the second game
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team scored 28 runs on 30 hits as the Leopards improved to 5-1 on the season with a pair of wins over Penn State-Altoona. In the first game, which was a completion of a halted game from Thursday morning, Wentworth took a 9-5 win before rallying from a 10-3 deficit to post a 19-12 win in the second game between the two teams.
The Leopards found themselves trailing, 4-0, before coming to bat as the Lions took advantage of a Wentworth error with two outs and scored four times. Sophomore Szmed (Delmont, Pa.) drew a bases-loaded walk and classmate Matt Roland (Springfield, N.J.) belted a three-run double to give Altoona the lead. In the home half of the inning the Leopards tied the score at 4-all when sophomore Sam McManus (Hopkinton, N.H.) drew a bases-loaded walk, junior Scott Ouellette (Lewsiton, Maine) had a sacrifice fly, and sophomore Johnny Ryan (Brant Rock, Mass.) had a two-run single.
Wentworth tacked on a run in the bottom of the second when junior Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.) doubled in senior Paul Dassau (Franklin, Mass.), however, the Lions tied the score in the top of the third when freshman Logan Madill (Midland, Mich.) led off with a triple and scored when Szmed grounded out.
A three-run fourth inning gave the Black & Gold the lead for good as Dassau had an RBI double, junior Jake Mailman (Medway, Mass.) plated Dassau with a double, and McManus scored Mailman with an RBI single.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth for Altoona, rain forced the game to be halted. When it resumed on Thursday afternoon, freshman Christian Ferri (Bloomfield, N.J.) replaced sophomore Corey Jerolmon (New Milford, Conn.) and got a strikeout to end the threat.
The Leopards would add a run in the bottom of the fifth when Hulme drew abases-loaded walk to round out the scoring.
Jerolmon picked up his first collegiate win as he went 4.2 innings, allowing five runs (one earned) on 10 hits and struck out three. Ferri picked up his first collegiate save as he allowed just one hits and struck out two over the final 2.1 innings. At the plate, senior Jon Spitz (Hanover, Mass.) had three hits while Dassau, Hulme, and freshman Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.) had two hits apiece.
Four players recorded two hits apiece for the Lions, including Roland who also drove in three runs.
The second game saw the Leopards take a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as Hulme reached on an error, scoring Spitz, Mailman doubled, scoring Dassau, and Ouellette grounded into a double play with Hulme coming into score. However, the lead would not last long as the Lions put up 10 runs in the home half of the inning. Junior Jordan Swope (State College, Pa.) had a two-run double and a two-run home run to pace the offense, while freshmen Dan Bier (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) and Jared Dailey (Boalsburg, Pa.) each had two-run singles.
In the top of the second the Leopards scored a run when Burst, who had reached on an error to start the inning, scored when he advanced home after an infield fly call.
The bottom of the third saw Altoona take a 12-4 lead when freshman Pat McHenry (Christiana, Pa.) hit a two-run home run.
Wentworth put up eight runs in the top of the fourth to tie the score at 12-all as Mailman had a two-run single, Hulme and McManus each drove in a run, and McManus and Ouellette scored on two of three Lion errors in the inning. An inning later the Leopards took a 13-12 lead when Hulme hit his first collegiate home run.
Wentworth tacked on two in the sixth, thanks to a two-run triple by Spitz, who came home to score on a squeeze bunt from Dassau. The seventh inning saw the Black & Gold add three more runs on RBI singles from junior Anthony Matera (Trumbull, Conn.) and Spitz and Spitz scored on a hit by Dassau.
Freshman Chris Hayes (Medford, Mass.) earned his first collegiate win as he allowed a pair of runs on six hits, walked two, and struck out six over the final five innings. Spitz was 4-fr-5 at the plate with three RBI, while Dassau, Hulme, Mailman, McManus, Ouellette, and Matera had two hits each. Mailman also drove in three runs.
McHenry was 3-for-4 with three RBI while Dailey, Swope, and Madill had two hits each to pace the Lions.
The Leopards play SUNYIT on Friday morning.