Studley Wins 200th as Baseball Splits With Curry

MILTON, Mass. – Freshman Matt Smith (Horseheads, N.Y.) recorded four hits on the day and sophomore Tyler Weninger (Chandler, Ariz.) nabbed his first win of the season as the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team split a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader against Curry College on Saturday afternoon. Wentworth fell 6-1 to Curry in the first game, followed by a four-run seventh inning that lifted the Leopards to a 4-0 win in the second. The win in the second game gave head coach Steve Studley his 200th career victory.

Both Wentworth and Curry improve to 6-11 and 1-1 in conference action.

Game One: Curry 6, Wentworth 1
Wentworth capitalized on a defensive mishap to get on the board 1-0 in the top of the first. Reaching first on an error and then second on a stolen base, junior Christian Ferri (Bloomfield, N.J.) crossed home plate for the Leopards' first run on an RBI single from junior Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.). Curry threatened to tie in its half of the first, but could not get the run across as the runner was thrown out at home.

The Leopards held the hosts scoreless through two innings before the Colonels squared the game at 1-all in the third frame. With two outs and the bases full of Colonels, sophomore William De La Cruz (Bronx, N.Y.) walked in the tying run. Curry itched for more with the bases still loaded, but a strike out ended the inning.

Through the next two innings, Curry tacked on five more runs to take a 6-1 advantage over Wentworth. Junior Alex McLean's (Eliot, Maine) go-ahead single gave Curry the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth as the Colonels added an additional four runs in the fifth.

Junior Nick Crivello (Millville, Mass.) led the fifth off with a double to left field and later plated on a single from freshman Ben Lary (Kennebunk, Maine). The following at-bat, De La Cruz put the score at 4-1 as he crossed home on a passed ball. With a runner on third and one out, senior Kyle Connors (Stoughton, Mass.) sent a ground ball to second that scored that plated Curry's fifth run of the game. The Colonels wrapped up the inning with back-to-back singles by senior John Arens (Milton, Mass.) and McLean.

Wentworth began the top of the seventh with a single sent into right field by freshman Jake Smith (Attleboro, Mass.), but consecutive fly balls closed the book on the Leopards and sealed the 6-1 win for Curry.

Sophomore David Griffin (Hanover, Mass.) (1-0) pitched a solid seven innings and allowed one run on six hits, while he struck out 10 batters in the win. McLean paced the Colonels offense, going 2-for-2 with two singles, two RBIs and scored one run.

Junior Zack Bernier (North Dartmouth, Mass.) (0-1) pitched four innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits with three strikeouts. Freshman Ben Rexford (Lancaster, N.H.) pitched two relief innings and gave up four runs on five hits. Smith and sophomore Tim Elrick (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) led the Leopards, going for a combined 4-for-6 with four singles.

Steve Studley is in his 12th season guiding the Leopards

Game Two: Wentworth 4, Curry 0
Curry nabbed the first scoring opportunity in the home half of the second on a double by Lary that advanced senior R.J. McCann (Brockton, Mass.) to third with two outs. The Colonels could not bring the runner in as McCann got picked off at third.

Neither Wentworth nor Curry were able to put a run on the board for both the starting pitching on both sides were lights out, however, the Leopards' offense got to freshman Matt Fogarty (Millis, Mass.) for four runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Senior Johnny Ryan (Brant Rock, Mass.) rocketed a double into left field and later came around to the plate the first Wentworth run on an error committed by the third baseman. Wentworth crossed home plate two more times on a double to left field by sophomore Bryon Kucharski (East Haven, Conn.) and a single to center from Smith to give the Leopards the 3-0 advantage. Smith tacked on the fourth Leopards' run.

Three consecutive ground outs from the Colonels in the bottom of the seventh sealed the Leopards' 4-0 triumph.

Weninger (1-4) earned his first win of the season for Wentworth as he pitched seven solid innings and allowed three hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Kucharski and Smith led the Leopards offense, going for a combined 2-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI.

Fogarty was tagged with the loss as he pitched seven innings and allowed four runs on five hits with six strikeouts. Lary went 2-for-2 with a double and single.

Wentworth is at Nichols on Sunday.