Westfield State 14, WPI 8

Box Score

Westfield, MA --- Sophomore third baseman Jeff Ackerman (Beverly, MA) was 3-for-5 with a home run, double and five RBI, and junior first baseman Ben Campbell (Easthampton, MA) was 2-for-3 with a triple, three RBI and three runs scored to power Westfield State to a 14-8 victory over WPI on Wednesday.

The streaking Owls improved to 12-5, taking home their eighth straight victory. WPI (14-7) dropped its first game in the last eight and had won 11 out of the last 12 games, including a 9-7 decision over reigning national champion Trinity College on Monday, before the loss.

The teams traded leads in the early going. Westfield led 3-2 after three innings, but WPI rebounded with three runs in the fifth for a 5-3 lead. Owl starting pitcher Joe Green was yanked after a bases loaded walk in the fifth, then WPI’s Mitch McClune (Pembroke, MA) drove reliever Curt Everett’s first pitch to deep center field for a two-run double.

Westfield tied the score in the home half of the fifth on a two-run double by Ackerman. WPI took its last lead, 6-5, a sixth-inning unearned run on Mike Swanton’s (Foxboro, MA) sacrifice fly.

The Owls scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth, all with two outs, for a 10-6 lead. The game-winning hit was recorded by Campbell, who crushed a three-run triple to deep center field on a 3-2 pitch. Westfield scored later in the inning on a fielding error and a bases loaded walk.

WPI cut the lead to 10-8 by scoring twice in the seventh. Westfield kept on the attack however, putting together a four-run uprising in the seventh, with the big blow coming on Ackerman’s opposite-field, three-run homer just inside the right field foul pole.

Ben Wagner (Cumberland, RI) was 3-for-5 and added three runs scored and an RBI, while Adam Franke (Monson, MA) was 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Owls.

For the Engineers, McClune was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Mark Dignum (Albany, NY) belted a double and single and Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA) was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Aaron Messier (New Bedford, MA), the third of four Westfield pitchers, was credited with the win. WPI used five pitchers, with starter Bryan Watkins (Belmont, MA) pitching into the sixth inning. Kyle Boucher (Manchester, NH) absorbed the loss in relief to drop to 0-2 on the year.

WPI is back in action on Thursday looking to get back on the winning track when it heads to Cambridge to face NEWMAC rival MIT. First pitch is at 3:30pm. Westfield State will look to keep its hot streak going when it plays the second of back-to-back home games against Nichols, also at 3:30pm.

Major portions of release courtesy Westfield State College Sports Information