Wentworth Sweeps Roger Williams to Run Streak to Four

(Courtesy of Roger Williams Sports Information)

BRISTOL, R.I. – The Wentworth baseball team ran its win streak to four games and improved to 3-1 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference play with a sweep of Roger Williams, 3-2 and 8-3, in a league doubleheader.  The doubleheader sweep by the Leopards over the Hawks was the first since the 1996 season.

The Hawks held a brief 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, beginning with a one-out single by Grant Bolin (Simsbury, Conn.).  He would then get to third on a sharply hit single to center by Tim Georgen (Bristol, Conn.), followed by a miscue in the outfield. Zach Porter (Middleboro, Mass.) came up next and beat out an infield hit to short, while Bolin raced in home for the first run of the game.

The RWU advantage would be brief, as Ben Danker (Branford, Conn.) led off the fourth with a walk, before Mike Diodato (Asbury, N.J.) sent a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence to give the Leopards a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning, Alex Wong brought in Jake McManus (Hopkinton, N.H.) on a sacrifice fly to left to make it a 3-1 game.

The Hawks were able to get one of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth, when Stephen McKernan (Grafton, Mass.) scored on an RBI double by Rob Zarthar (Dedham, Mass.), but the Hawk offense was shut down from then on, managing only one hit over the final three innings.

Matt Dannenhoffer (Bethany, Conn.) went the distance, allowing two runs while scattering eight hits and striking out seven for his third win of the year. Teammate Conner Flisnik (Marcy, N.Y.) finished 2-for-4 in the game.

PJ Gouthro (Walpole, Mass.) took the loss, allowing three runs in six innings, giving up five hits and striking out six. Ryan MacCarthy (Middleton, Mass.) went 2-for-3 for the Hawks, his third multi-hit game of the season.

In the second game, the Leopards struck first, getting a run in the opening inning on Diodato's RBI single to bring in McManus. Wentworth would add another run in the top of the second when Anthony Carbone (Goshen, Conn.) homered to right field on a full count.

Roger Williams scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the inning, with McKernan coming in on an RBI single by John Oppenhimer (Westport, Conn.). The two teams traded runs in the third inning, and Roger Williams remained within one entering the top of the fifth.

In the Leopards' at-bat, Justin Bolla (Groveland, Mass.) doubled Wentworth's lead with one swing, sending a three-run shot deep to center field. The Leopards brought around another score in the inning on a sac fly to center by Flisnik to take a 7-2 lead. Roger Williams picked up a run in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by Matthew Roche (Bristol, Conn.), but would come no closer as the Leopards added one more score in the seventh on the way to the win.

Mo Gardner (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) pitched 5.0 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs in the win. Diodato finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Bolla had two hits, three RBI, and a run scored.

Sean Scanlon (Lebanon, Conn.) gave up six runs in 4.1 innings in the loss for RWU.  Porter, MacCarthy, Roche, and Oppenhimer each had two hits in the game for the Hawks.

Roger Williams (1-12, 0-4 TCCC) hosts Wheaton College Tuesday at 3:00 p.m., while Wentworth (10-3, 3-1 TCCC) will be at Babson College Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.