Baseball Snaps Losing Streak, Notches First-Ever win Over Bridgewater State

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Junior Aaron Denis (Dover, N.H.) notched his first victory of the season and junior Jimmy Temte (Northborough, Mass.) went 3-for-4 at the plate to help the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team snap a four-game losing streak as the Leopards defeated Bridgewater State for the first time in program history with an 8-4 win Friday afternoon.

Friday's contest marked the first time since 2002 the two teams have squared off against each other and the Bears had captured the previous 11 meetings.

The Leopards (4-8) got the scoring started with an unearned run in the top of the first. Junior Christian Ferri (Bloomfield, N.J.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the game and moved to second on a wild pitch. After the next two batters were retired, classmate Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.) reached on a two base throwing error which allowed Ferri to come all the way around to score the first run of the game.

Wentworth made it a 3-0 game in the third as back-to-back singles by sophomore Tyler Weninger (Chandler, Ariz.) and Burst put runners on second and third with one out. Senior Johnny Ryan (Brandt Rock, Mass.) plated Weninger with an RBI groundout and Temte followed with a run-scoring single.

The Bears (5-4) benefited from a pair of Wentworth errors to get on the board in the bottom of the third. Scott O'Brien reached on an error, moved to second on a base hit by Licciardello and to third when the center fielder bobbled the ball. O'Brien scored BSU's first run of the game on a double play groundout. Feeney kept the inning going with a base hit and came all the way around to score when Travis Ritchie reached on a two-base throwing error.

Wentworth got a run back in the top of the fourth. Freshman Jake Smith (Orange, Conn.) singled off the pitcher's hand and advanced to second two batters later on a sacrifice bunt. Weninger followed with an RBI single to right-center to score Smith and give the visitors a 4-2 lead.

A two-run single by freshman Ross Golebiewski (Lyme, Conn.) in the fifth extended the Leopard advantage to four. Golebiewski would later score on a throwing error to make it a 7-2 contest.

Bridgewater State cut the deficit to 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh with a bases loaded walk by Keaghan Austin-MacInnis. The Leopards got the run right back in the top half of the eighth as Ferri led off the frame with a base hit, moved to third on sophomore Tim Elrick's (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) double and raced home as the left fielder misplayed the ball.

Bridgewater State picked up a run in the bottom of the ninth on a RBI groundout to account for the final score of 8-4.

Denis (1-2) went eight-plus innings allowing four runs (two earned) on nine hits and struck out a pair. He also benefitted from a Wentworth defense which turned three double plays. In addition to Temte's three hits, Weninger, Burst, and Golebiewski rapped out two hits each. Golebiewski also drove in a pair of runs and Weninger had an RBI.

Ryan Feeney had three hits to pace the Bridgewater State offense. Anthony Licciardello also finished with multiple hits as he went 2-for-4. Ryan Hayward took the loss on the mound for the Bears as he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with one strikeout over three innings of work.

Wentworth is at Fitchburg State on March 26.