BROCKTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team battled back from a four-run deficit in the eighth inning of its opener against Nichols before falling, 16-11, in extra innings. The Leopards nearly pulled off a comeback in the nightcap, however, were defeated, 2-0.
GAME ONE: Nichols 16, Wentworth 11 (11)
Nichols jumped on the board with two runs in the top of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Graduate student Chris Anderson (Naugatuck, Conn.) doubled in sophomore Nathaniel Cormier (Sandsfield, Mass.), who had led off with a single, while freshman Tyler Heenan (Milford, Conn.) drove in classmate Kyle Desjardins (North Granby, Conn.), who had drawn a one-out walk. Wentworth responded with four in the bottom of the inning as senior Jake Smith (Orange, Conn.) led off with a triple and classmate Ross Golebiewski (Lyme, Conn.) walked. Freshman Matt Bishop (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) singled in Smith and advanced Golebiewski to second. With two outs, junior Dan Mitchell (Avon, Mass.) gave the Leopards a 4-2 lead with a three-run home run.
The Bison tied the game in the top of the second when Desjardins hit a two-run single which scored junior Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) and junior Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.). Wentworth reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning as Smith drew a two-out walk and went to third on a Golebiewski single. Golebiewski began to steal second and, he did, Smith broke for home and beat the throw on the double steal to make it 5-4.
An RBI fielder's choice from senior Joe Assenza (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and a Naccari RBI single in the fourth gave Nichols a 6-5 lead. The Leopards used a pair of runs in the home half of the bottom of the fifth inning to jump back ahead, 7-6. Smith hit a one-out single, and, with two outs, came around to score on a Bishop home run.
Nichols tied the game in the seventh inning when freshman David Caron (Branford, Conn.) singled in Naccari who hit a leadoff double. An inning later, the Bison took an 11-7 lead as sophomore Riley Parent (Windham, N.H.) had an RBI single, Naccari delivered a to-run triple, and Cormier had a bunt single which scored Naccari. The bottom of the eighth saw Wentworth even the score at 11-all. Bishop led off with a walk and went to third on a pinch-hit double from junior Jack Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.). Freshman Nate Ladeira (Fall River, Mass.) scored them both with a single and he would score on an RBI single by senior Andrew Elliott (Rockland, Mass.). With the bases loaded, Golebiewski was hit by a pitch, bringing in sophomore Aidan French (Chicago, Ill.) who had singled.
Cormier led off the top of the 11th with a triple and back-to-back walks to Caron and Desjardins loaded the bases. A walk to Anderson brought in the go-ahead run before Parent provided insurance with a grand slam.
Sophomore Robert Cobb (Revere, Mass.) picked up the win (2-1) as he allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings of relief. Naccari was 4-for-7 with three RBI while Parent, Bouchard, and Cormier each had three hits. Parent also drove in five runs.
Senior Ben Rexford (Lancaster, N.H.) took the loss (0-4). Offensively, Smith was 3-for-4 while Bishop and Ladeira each had two hits and drove in three and two runs, respectively.
GAME TWO: Nichols 2, Wentworth 0
After the two teams combined for 27 runs on 31 hits in the opener, the nightcap saw just two runs and a total of 13 hits. Nichols took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, thanks to a Caron home run. Wentworth had a chance to tie the game in the third inning as Ruprecht led off with a walk and was out when Ladeira reached on a fielder's choice. With two outs Ladeira stole second and went to third on a wild pitch, however, a strikeout ended the threat.
Nichols added a run in the seventh to make it a 2-0 game as Anderson led off with a single and went to third on a Heenan single. Parent was safe on a bunt single which scored Anderson. The Bison threatened to add more runs with runners on second and third and two outs but freshman Matt Perconti (Hancock, Maine) got a groundout to end the threat.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Wentworth nearly pulled off a comeback. Freshman Matt Masciadrelli (Westfield, Mass.) led off with a double and went to third when French hit a single. Representing the tying run, French stole second, however, junior Jack Dicenso (Norfolk, Mass.) struck out the next three batters to finish the complete game.
Dicenso improves to 3-1, allowing four hits and striking out 10. Heenan was 3-for-4, while Parent was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Perconti suffered the loss (2-3), allowing two runs on nine hits and striking out four in seven innings of work. Freshman Jacob Knowles (Concord, N.H.) pitched the final two innings, retiring all six batters he faced.
Wentworth is at Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday.
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