Baseball Splits With Curry, Earns CCC Tournament Berth

MILTON, Mass. – With each team needing wins to qualify for the 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, Wentworth Institute of Technology and Curry College split a doubleheader on the final day of the conference schedule. Wentworth took the first game by a 9-1 score while Curry prevailed, 2-0, in the nightcap.

In game one the Leopards took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when sophomore Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.) grounded out to score junior Jon Spitz (Hanover, mass.), who had an infield hit, went to second on an error and moved to third on a senior Alex Wong (Lewiston, Maine) single. The Colonels tied the game in the top of the fourth when junior Brandon Lewis (Barrington, R.I.) singled in sophomore Tanner Givens (Hamden, Conn.), who had a one-out single, went to second on an error, and moved to third on a junior Matt O'Neill (Milton, Mass.) single.

Wentworth broke the stalemate in the home half of the fourth as junior Paul Dassau (Franklin, Mass.) had a bases-loaded bunt single, Spitz had an RBI single, and Wong reached on a fielder's choice, which allowed Dassau and senior Ryan Delgado (Wareham, Mass.) to score.

The Leopards added a run in the fifth on an RBI single from freshman J.P. Dennehy (Danbury, Conn.), which scored Hulme, and scored three times in the sixth, thanks to five consecutive two-out walks.

Wong improved to 2-0 as he allowed one run on 11 hits, walked three, and struck out five. He and freshman Sam McManus (Hopkinton, N.H.) had two hits apiece while Hulme and Dennehy drove in two runs each.

Senior Zach Walker (Hingham, Mass.) took the loss (1-3) for the Colonels as he allowed six runs (three earned) on nine hits, walked one and struck out one in five innings of work. Senior Sam Barron (Hadley, mass.), Givens, O'Neill, and Lewis had two hits apiece for Curry.

Curry got the lone run it would need in the top of the first inning of game two when Givens delivered a two-out single, scoring sophomore Derek Pizzaro (Cambridge, Mass.), who had drawn a one-out walk and went to second on a Barron single.

The Colonels got an insurance run in the fourth when Lewis delivered an RBI single, which scored O'Neill, who had singled earlier in the inning.

Wentworth's best chance to tie the game came in the sixth as Spitz singled and went to second when sophomore Jake Mailman (Medway, Mass.) drew a two-out walk. However, both were stranded when Colonel sophomore Thomas Fitzpatrick (South Boston, Mass.) induced a groundout to end the inning.

Fitzpatrick spun a four-hit shutout, striking out eight batters and walking just two to improve to 4-3. Six different players recorded hits for Curry.

Junior Ben Lewis (Middletown, R.I.) fell to 6-2 on the year as he allowed two runs on six hits, walked only one, and struck out six in six innings before giving way to junior Dakota Baird (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.), who set down the side in the seventh. Spitz had two of the Leopards' four hits.

Wentworth stands at 15-14 overall and 5-11 in CCC play while Curry is 8-11-2 overall (5-11). Both these teams, along with Gordon, finished in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference standings. The Leopards will be seeded fifth and will travel to second-seeded Endicott for a first-round game on Thursday. The Colonels are the number six seed and will be at top-seeded Western New England, also on Thursday.

Both teams will step out of conference play before the tournament begins. Curry is at Westfield State on Sunday, while Wentworth is scheduled to be at Castleton on Tuesday.