Baseball Takes Two from Hope

DAVENPORT, Fla. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball needed extra innings to walk off Hope in the first game of its doubleheader Thursday afternoon. The Leopards prevailed, 9-8, before completing the sweep with a 12-9 win in the nightcap.

With the wins the Leopards improve to 4-3 on the season while the Flying Dutch fall to 3-5.

GAME ONE:  Wentworth 9, Hope 8 (10)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The game was cruising along at 0-0 before hope scored a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, thanks to a fielder's choice RBI and an RBI single. Wentworth got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Jake Samela hit his first home run of the season to make it 2-1.
• After the Flying Dutch took a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning, the Leopards answered with three of their own in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-3 lead. With the bases loaded and one out, Christian Roncal hit a sacrifice fly that scored Matt Robinson, who had led off the inning with a single. Wentworth once again loaded the bases and Christian Figueora delivered a two-run single.
• A two-run seventh inning put Hope back on top, 5-4, however, the Black & Gold forced extra innings with a Josh Turcotte single. With two outs, Nick Cullinan singled and was lifted for pinch runner Alex Dayton. Dayton went to second when Matthew Favazzo reached on catcher's interference. Turcotte laced a single to center to tie the game at 5-all.
• Both teams had scoring chances in the ninth inning but both were erased thanks to double plays.
• Hope took an 8-7 lead in the top of the 10th inning on a two-run single and a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the inning, Christian Roncal led off getting hit by a pitch and went to third on a Samela single. Figueroa hit into a double play which allowed Roncal to score. Cyle Archer walked and went to second when Lukas Poirier singled. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Matt Robinson was in the box with a 2-0 count when lightning was close to the field, which resulted in a 49-minute weather delay. When the game resumed, Robinson walked to load the bases. John Golebieski followed with a two-run single that scored Archer and Poirier and tie the game at 8-all. Matthew Favazzo was intentionally walked to load the bases. On a 3-2 count, Turcotte singled to bring Robinson home with the winning run.
• Luke Ryan, the last of six pitchers Wentworth used, picked up the win (1-0) after pitching two-thirds of an inning. Aaron Masson got his first collegiate start, allowing two runs (zero earned) on two hits and striking out three. Offensively, Turcotte was 3-for-6 with two RBI while Robinson, Cullinan, and Samela each had two hits.

GAME TWO:  Wentworth 12, Hope 9

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Hope opened the second game by using a pair of RBI singles to lead, 2-0, after one inning of play. That lead stayed until Wentworth answered with seven runs in the top of the fourth to take a 7-2 lead. With the bases loaded, Poirier delivered an infield single to score Figueora. Andrew Pantano, who had reached on an error, scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-all.
• A sacrifice fly from Robinson and an RBI single from Favazzo gave the Black & Gold a 4-2 lead, while Samela hit a two-run single that brought in Favazzo and Cullinan. Three batters later, Pantano drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-2.
• The bottom of the inning saw the Flying Dutch use an RBI triple followed by a sacrifice fly to slice the lead to 7-4 and an RBI groundout and a ground-rule double brought Hope to within one at 7-6.
• The Leopards enjoyed some breathing room with a five-run fifth inning as Cullinan had an RBI fielder's choice, Favazzo hit a sacrifice fly, Turcotte delivered an RBI single, and Figueora had a two-run double, that made it 12-6.
• Hope got a two-run double in the sixth and an RBI single that made it 12-9 and loaded the bases with one out in the seventh before Bennett Leary picked up back-to-back strikeouts to lock down his second save of the season.
• Michael Archambault picked up his first win of the season (1-0), earning the victory with 1,1 innings of relief of Jace Rogers, who pitched 3.2 innings in his first collegiate start. Christian Roncal pitched a scoreless sixth before Leary pitched the seventh. At the plate, Figueora and Samela were each 3-for-4 with two RBI while Poirier was 3-for-5.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today was the first two meetings between the two teams.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth wraps up its spring break trip Friday morning against Anna Maria.

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