WPI 13, Becker 8

Box Score

Worcester, MA --- WPI pulled out a 13-8 victory over cross-city rival Becker in non-conference baseball action Wednesday afternoon at WPI's Class of 1893 Field.  Nick Bean (Middleboro, MA) paced the Engineer attack with a 3-for-5 afternoon and drove in three runs on the day to help WPI move to 9-6 on the year. Becker falls to 4-6.

The Engineers jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first. Shortstop Paul Galligan (Weymouth, MA) led off the game by reaching on a hit-by-pitch and scoring on Bean's double as WPI took a 1-0 lead. Bean would later score on a RBI single from John Flynn (Albion, ME). Starting right-fielder Mitch McClune (Pembroke, MA) added a SAC fly RBI to give WPI a 3-0 lead.

Becker responded with two runs in the second, fueled by a single from Frank Vaccaro (Shrewsbury, MA) and a two-run homer from Josue Lopez (Manchester, CT), pulling the Hawks to within a run. The Hawks took the lead in the third, plating three more runs. Jairo Valdez (Lynn, MA) led off the inning with a triple and scored on an RBI-single off the bat of Keith Kandel (Fresno, CA) to tie the score at three. Becker would add two unearned runs later in the inning to take a 5-3 advantage.

The Becker lead did not last as WPI responded in the bottom of the third. Following a walk and an Ethan Brown (Lunenburg, MA) single, McClune sent a double into the right-center gap to pull WPI to within 5-4. Brown later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at five apiece. Cody McGregor (Westfield, MA) followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Engineers a 6-5 lead that would hold up for the rest of the afternoon. Bean added an RBI single for his second hit of the day, putting WPI up 7-5.

The Engineers added four more in the fourth, boosting their lead to 11-5. Bryan Watkins (Belmont, MA) worked a bases-loaded walk to score WPI's first run of the inning, followed by Becker's second wild pitch of the inning that sent home the Engineers' second run. With the score 9-5, Bean came through again, producing a single to right-center that drove home Watkins and Joe Walsh (Weymouth, MA) with WPI's 10th and 11th runs of the day.

Lopez continued to shine for Becker, sending a liner to right for an RBI double in the top of the fifth, pulling the Hawks to within five runs of the Engineers. WPI answered right back, as McGregor tripled down the right field line, producing two RBIs and extending the WPI lead to 13-6. McGregor also had three RBIs on the afternoon. Becker later added two more runs in the ninth to complete the scoring, as both Weston Meehan (Thomson, GA) and Jim Ceglarek (Chicago, IL) generated RBI doubles for the Hawks. Meehan had two hits and scored three runs on the day for Becker.

Ryan Marques (Gloucester, MA) went six innings for WPI, picking up the victory and evening his record at 1-1 on the season. Thomas Whiting (Farmington Hills, MI) and Peter Chunis (Sutton, MA) each delivered a scoreless inning for WPI in relief of Marques. Pierce Onthank (Fairfield, CT) was saddled with the loss for the Hawks, dropping to 1-1 on the year.

Baseball returns to action tomorrow, taking on Worcester State in the middle game of a three-game homestand at 3:30pm. Becker will entertain Daniel Webster on Saturday in its first conference doubleheader at 1:00pm.

Story by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Athletics Department