Baseball Falls at Western New England in Midweek CCC Matchup

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Freshman CJ Willis (Auburn, Mass.) and graduate student Joe Webber (Marshfield, mass.) each went 2-for-5 and drove in three runs each as the Western New England University baseball team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 13-8, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Wednesday afternoon. With the win the Golden Bears improve to 15-13-1 overall and 6-6 in CCC play while the Leopards are 12-14 (2-9).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The top of the second inning saw sophomore Christian Peruzzi (Plymouth, Mass.) led off reaching on an error and he moved to second on a classmate Michael Petit groundout. Graduate student Aidan French (Chicago, Ill.) singled him to third and when French stole second, Peruzzi scored on an error.
• Webber hit a two-run home run to go along with a sacrifice fly from sophomore Cody Waterbury (Danbury, Conn.) and an RBI single from sophomore Aaron Cole (Forestdale, Mass.), which gave the Golden Bears a 4-1 lead after two innings. The hosts tacked on single runs in the third and fourth innings to make it 6-1.
• Senior Justin Kirst (Boston, N.Y.) led off the fifth inning with a walk and went to second on a single from sophomore Matt Rice (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Both runners moved up when senior Matt Masciadrelli (Westfield, Mass.) laid down a sacrifice bunt and a groundout by senior Kyle Desjardins (North Granby, Conn.) brought Kirst in to make it 6-2. The bottom of the fifth saw Western New England take a 7-2 lead when Webber hit his second home run of the game.
• With two outs in the top of the sixth inning, French singled and came around to score on a double from Kirst. In the bottom of the inning the Golden Bears scored four times, extending their lead to 11-3.
• Wentworth got two runs back in the top of the seventh. Desjardins hit a one-out single and, with two outs, went to second on a walk from senior Kyle O'Neill (Haverhill, Mass.). Peruzzi delivered a single which scored Desjardins and moved O'Neill to third, while an infield single from Petit brought O'Neill in.
• The Golden Bears scored twice in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run single from Willis to make it a 13-5 game. In the ninth inning, O'Neill led off with a single and went to second on an error before moving up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Peruzzi walked to put runners at the corners. Petit followed with a home run, making it 13-8.
• Sophomore Brodi Farinas (Lewiston, Maine) took the loss (3-4), allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and striking out four in five innings of work. At the plate, Petit was 2-for-5 with four RBI, Desjardins was 2-for-5 with an RBI, and French also had a pair of hits.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today was the 32nd all-time meeting between the two teams with Western New England holding a 23-9 series edge..

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth hosts Endicott in a CCC doubleheader Saturday.

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