QUINCY, Mass. – Sophomore Christian Ferri (Bloomfield, N.J.) and freshman Tyler Weninger (Chandler, Ariz.) each rapped out four hits and sophomore Aaron Denis (Dover, N.H.) improved to 5-1 on the year as the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team split a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference games at Eastern Nazarene College. The Leopards snapped a four-game losing streak with an 11-4 win in the first game before the Lions earned the split with a 7-1 win in the nightcap.
Game one saw Wentworth take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-run single off the bat of Weninger, which scored Ferri who had drawn a leadoff walk and junior Greg Confessore (West Hartford, Conn.) who followed Ferri with a single. In the home half of the inning Eastern Nazarene cut the lead in half when junior Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) led off with a single and came around to score on a one-out double off the bat of sophomore Cameron Florentino (Uxbridge, Mass.).
The Lions took a 3-2 lead in the second inning thanks to a two-run single from Jeremy Wagner, which would score junior Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and junior Luis Gonzalez (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico).
Wentworth put up five runs in the top of the third, thanks to four hits and a pair of Eastern Nazarene errors. Weninger had an RBI single, senior Scott Ouellette (Lewiston, Maine) had an RBI double, junior Sam McManus (Hopkinton, N.H.) had a sacrifice fly, Ouellette would score when sophomore Jimmy Temte (Northborough, Mass.) reached on an error), and Ferri delivered an RBI single.
An inning later Wentworth added pair of runs to take a 9-3 lead. Senior Jake Mailman (Medway, Mass.) led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch, setting up a sacrifice fly from sophomore Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.). Weninger poked a double down the right field line and went to third on an Ouellette single. McManus hit his second sacrifice fly of the contest to score Weninger.
Eastern Nazarene scored once in the sixth on a Gonzalez sacrifice fly, however Wentworth tacked on two more in the seventh when Temte launched his fifth home run of the season and Confessore had an RBI single.
Denis went the distance for his fourth complete game of the season as he allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits, walked a pair and struck out five. Weninger was 3-for-4 with three RBI while Confessore, Mailman, Ouellette, and Temte had two hits each. McManus drove in two runs.
Sophomore Frank Fusco (Hartsville, Tenn.) took the loss (1-7) as he allowed six runs (four earned) on five hits in 2.1 innings. Senior Brandon Wells (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) pitched the final 4.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits. Jeremy Wagner was 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Game two saw Wentworth take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Senior Joe Hulme (Tewksbury, Mass.) hit a single, Mailman walked, and Burst would walk to load the bases. Weninger would reach on a fielder's choice, which erased Burst from the bases however allowed Hulme to score.
Eastern Nazarene scored three times in the home half of the inning to take the lead for good. Freshman Miguel Ortiz (New Britain, Conn.) and Jeremy Wagner reached on back-to-back singles and both would score when Wagner stole second and an errant throw went to the outfield. Junior Kurt Picarelli (Montrose, N.Y.) would hit a home run just inside the right field foul pole to round out the scoring.
After the Leopards left the bases loaded in the top of the second, the hosts scored twice in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a two-run double from Florentino. Junior Jose Arebalo (Houston, Texas) led off the inning by reaching on an error and went to second when Ortiz was hit by a pitch. Jeremy Wagner sacrificed both players over, setting up the double.
The Lions rounded out the scoring in the fourth with a run scoring on an error and Picarelli delivering an RBI single. In both the fifth and sixth innings Eastern Nazarene threatened to add to its lead, however senior Justin Voytek (New Milford, Conn.) got inning ending double plays in both of those innings.
Picarelli had two hits and drove in two runs while Florentino, who improved to 2-2 on the season, drove in two. Florentino pitched six innings, allowing one run on eight hits and struck out six.
Sophomore Zack Bernier (North Dartmouth, Mass.) was tagged with the loss (1-3) as he allowed seven runs (five earned) and struck out six in 4.1 innings. Voytek allowed one hit and walked a pair in 1.2 innings with four of those outs coming on double play balls. Ferri was 3-for-4 and Burst was 2-for-4 in the game.
Wentworth (14-14, 6-8 CCC) is at Curry Saturday at 2:00. Eastern Nazarene (12-19, 1-11) hosts Gordon on Saturday at 1:00.
