SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team dropped a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference contests at league-leading Western New England, falling 7-3 in the first game an 10-0 in the nightcap.
In game one, the Leopards scored a run in the first inning when sophomore Jake Mailman (Medway, Mass.) doubled in junior Jon Spitz (Hanover, Mass.), who led off the game with a single. Wentworth added two more runs in the seconds when Spitz reached on an error, which allowed freshman Sam McManus (Hopkinton, N.H.) to score, and senior Alex Wong (Lewiston, Maine) grounded out, which allowed classmate Ryan Delgado (Wareham, Mass.) to score.
The Golden Bears, who are among teams receiving votes in this week's D3Baseball.com Top 25, scored five times in the bottom of the second inning, with the big hit coming on a three-run double off the bat of senior Mike Rubino (Northford, Conn.), to take a 5-3 lead and added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Sophomore Trevor Breton (Enfield, Conn.) improved to 3-1 as he allowed three runs (one earned) on eight hits, walked four and struck out four in seven innings. Rubino went 2-for-3 with three RBI while junior Jeff Schult Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) was 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Junior Ben Lewis (Middletown, R.I.) suffered his first setback of the season (4-1), as he allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and walked four in five innings of work. Freshman Corey Jerolmon (New Milford, Conn.) walked one and struck out one in one inning of work. Mailman was 2-for-3 for the Leopards.
Western New England scored five runs in the first inning of the second game and never looked back as the Golden Bears limited the Leopard offense to just three hits in the game.
Schult was 3-for-4, while senior Matt Anthonis (Guilford, Conn.), senior Kyle McKelvey (Nesconset, N.Y.), and junior Steve Ambrosino (Laurel Hollow, N.Y.) had two hits apiece. Sophomore Nick Salerno (Essex Junction, Vt.) allowed two hits, walked four, and struck out seven in six innings of work.
Spitz, sophomore Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.), and freshman Matt McCormack (Contoocook, N.H.) collected hits for the Leopards, while freshman Ryan Daniels (Bristol, R.I.) was tagged with the loss after allowing 10 runs on 11 hits, walking three, and striking out a pair. Freshman Johnny Ryan (Brant Rock, Mass.) and senior Ryan DeCotis (Nashua, N.H.) combined to throw 1.2 innings of scoreless work.
Wentworth sees its record dip to .500 at 11-11 overall and 2-8 in league play; the Leopards host Endicott Sunday (at Endicott). Western New England sits at 17-7 (7-1) and is at Curry on Sunday.
