Baseball Edged Twice by Western New England

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team was edged in a pair of games in a Conference of New England doubleheader Saturday afternoon. Western New England took the first game, 4-3, and rallied for a 9-7 win in the nightcap.

The Golden Bears improve to 18-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play while the Leopards sit at 9-17 (3-6).

GAME ONE:  Western New England 4, Wentworth 3

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Western New England put up a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning, taking a 2-0 lead. Trey Young had a groundout RBI, while Antonio Galizia drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
• The Golden Bears tacked on a run in the third inning on an RBI single from Jake Loftus and upped their lead to 4-0 win a run in the fourth after an errant pickoff attempt allowed Connor Cowern to score.
• The hosts threatened to add to their lead in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs. However, Chase Carder got a fly out to end the inning and keep it a 4-0 game.
• Wentworth got on the board in the eighth inning, scoring three times. Jake Prisco led off with a single and went to second on a Cyle Archer single. With two outs, Matt Robinson delivered an RBI single that scored Prisco. Matthew Favazzo followed with two-run single, scoring Robinson and Archer. A.T. DiPina followed with a single that moved Robinson to third but he was stranded there on an inning-ending fly out.
• Michael Archambault took the loss (0-2), allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in five innings. Carder and Luke Ryan combined for three shutout innings, allowing just a pair of hits and striking out four. At the plate, Favazzo paced the offense with a pair of hits and drove in two.

GAME TWO:  Western New England 9, Wentworth 7

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A first inning error by the Leopards proved to be costly as Western New England scored a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead. The Golden Bears added single runs in the second on a John Bova RBI single and the third on an RBI single from Galizia to push their lead to 4-0.
• The fifth inning saw the Black & Gold get on the board, scoring three times to pull within a run. Prisco led off with a single and went to second when Mike Sibert sacrificed him over. Archer singled, moving Prisco to third. After Archer stole second, both players were awarded a base after a catcher's error. This allowed Prisco to score and moved Archer to third. Robinson singled in Archer, making it 4-2 and he stole second. A Favazzo single moved Robinson to third and Favazzo got caught in a rundown, allowing Robinson to score the third run of the inning.
• A two-run double by Ryan Montini put the Golden Bears on top, 6-3, in the sixth inning. However, a four-run seventh inning put Wentworth on top, 7-6. Archer led off the inning with a single and stole second. He scored on a Robinson RBI single. Favazzo reached on an error, putting runners at first and second. DiPina cleared the bases with a two-run triple, which was followed by an RBI double by Nick Cullinan.
• The Golden Bears tied the game in the bottom of the frame on a Jack Gamache RBI single and took the lead in the eighth, thanks to an RBI double from Loftus and an a sacrifice fly from Cowern.
• Matt Ferrara took the loss (2-3), allowing two runs on three hits and striking out two in an inning of work. At the plate, Robinson went 3-for-5 with two RBI, while DiPina and Cullinan each had three hits.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today was the 37th and 38th all-time meetings between the two teams.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth hosts Suffolk on Monday in a CNE doubleheader.

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