Baseball Edged Twice at Gordon

WENHAM, Mass. – Despite trailing 10-2 entering the sixth inning of the nightcap and staging a furious rally to pull within a run, the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team dropped a pair of one-run contests at Gordon in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Friday afternoon. The Fighting Scots rallied to take game one, 4-3, and held off the Leopards, 10-9 in game two.

With the two wins Gordon improves to 18-12 overall and 7-5 in CCC play while Wentworth falls to 8-18 (2-8).

Game One: Gordon 4, Wentworth 3
Neither Gordon nor Wentworth could not get a run across through the first three innings before both teams put one run on the board in the fourth frame.

The Fighting Scots had an opportunity in the bottom of the second to get on the board with senior Alex Smith (Wethersfield, Conn.) batting a double down the left field line. Smith moved up to third on a ground out, but was stranded as the inning concluded on a strike out.

It was Wentworth who struck first in its half of the fourth inning. Junior Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.) drew a walk to begin the inning and advanced to second after senior Johnny Ryan (Brant Rock, Mass.) was hit by a pitch. In the next at-bat, Burst plated the first Leopards run on a single up the middle by junior Jimmy Temte (Northborough, Mass.).

Gordon answered in the bottom of the fourth to square the game at one. Junior Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.) doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch with no outs. With Demers on third, sophomore Travis Benoit (Worcester, Mass.) sent an RBI single into center field.

Freshman Matt Smith (Horseheads, N.Y.), sophomore Tim Elrick (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) and sophomore Tyler Weninger (Chandler, Ariz.) loaded up the bases for Wentworth on three consecutive singles to begin the fifth frame. Burst launched a two-run double into the right field gap to plate both Smith and Elrick to help Wentworth gain the 3-1 lead over Gordon after five.

In its half of the fifth and sixth frames, however, Gordon brought three runs in to regain the lead at 4-3.

Freshman Christian Hodge's (Waltham, Mass.) home run over the right field fence put Gordon within one at 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. In the sixth, Smith squared the game at 3-all on a double down the left field line. Smith then stole third and scored the go-ahead run on freshman Chris Leavitt's (East Bridgewater, Mass.) single down the right field line.

Wentworth had a chance to even the score and send the game into extra innings with a runner on second and one out in the top of the seventh, but a fly ball and ground out sealed the 4-3 game win for Gordon.

Senior Scott Hall (Weymouth, Mass.) pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts in the win for Gordon to improve to 5-2 on the season. Smith led the Fighting Scots going 2-for-3 with two doubles, one run scored and one RBI.

Junior Aaron Denis (Dover, N.H.) was tagged with the loss (2-5) and allowed four runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts through six innings. Burst and Temte led the Leopards going for a combined 3-for-6 with a double, one run scored and three RBI.

Game Two: Gordon 10, Wentworth 9
To begin game two, Wentworth took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Elrick and Weninger got on base after a single and double down the left field line as Burst loaded the bases with a one out walk. Ryan was hit by a pitch and drove in the game's first run. Sophomore Bryon Kucharski (East Haven, Conn.) safely reached first on a muffed throw from the second baseman that allowed Weninger to plate the second Leopards run. Wentworth had the chance to made it 3-0 in the top of the fourth, but Kucharski was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

The Leopards held the Fighting Scots scoreless through the next three frames to hold on to their 2-0 lead, but Gordon's bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth as 10 runs crossed the plate.

Demers began the lengthy fourth inning for the Fighting Scots with a double into left field, reached third on a bunt single from Smith and plated the first Gordon run on a wild pitch. With one out and runners on second and third, Hodge hit a two-run triple into right center to give the Fighting Scots the 3-2 lead. Two defensive miscues from Wentworth allowed Gordon to tack on three more runs and push the lead to 6-2.

Still with one out in the inning, sophomore Addison Tarr (Oxnard, Calif.) contributed an RBI double to left center that was followed up by an RBI single to right from junior Ryan Paulsen (Latham, N.Y.) to make it 8-2. Demers and Paulsen plated the last two Gordon runs of the inning on a fielder's choice and a ground out to give the Fighting Scots a 10-2 cushion after four.

With the score at 10-2, Wentworth sparked a comeback and clawed its way back to tack on seven runs through the sixth and seventh innings.

Kucharski batted a single to begin the top of the sixth and plated the Leopards' first run in four innings on junior Christian Ferri's (Bloomfield, N.J.) infield single to the shortstop. It was the seventh where Wentworth's bats powered out five hits for six runs.

With the bases full of Leopards and one out, Kucharski and freshman Ross Golebiewski (Lyme, Conn.) batted back-to-back singles to drive in the first two runs of the inning to cut the score down to 10-5. Smith drew a walk to bring in the sixth Wentworth run that followed up by single from Ferri that plated three runs due to a fielding error and cut the lead down to one at 10-9. Wentworth hoped to keep its comeback hopes alive, but a ground out to the pitcher and strikeout sealed Gordon's 10-9 victory.

Senior Ryan Block (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) nabbed the win (2-1) for Gordon as he pitched 5.1 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits while he walked one and struck out three while sophomore Caleb Bae (Canyon Country, Calif.) picked up the save; his second. Demers led the Fighting Scots going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Hodge went 1-for-3 with a triple, one run scored and two RBI.

Weninger was tagged with the loss (1-5) and allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits with two walks and one strikeout through 3.1 innings. Kucharski led the Black & Gold going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI, while Ferri went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Burst went 2-for-3 with one run scored.

Wentworth is at Western New England on Saturday.