WPI 14, Coast Guard 10

Box Score

Worcester, MA --- Junior hurler Nolan Murphy (Shrewsbury, MA) pitched into the sixth to earn his fourth win of the year, while junior DH Mike Swanton (Foxboro, MA) had a home run and three RBI to lead host WPI to a 14-10 win over Coast Guard in NEWMAC baseball action on Wednesday. With the victory, WPI improves to 16-9 and 5-3 in the conference. Coast Guard falls to 6-16, 2-5 in the NEWMAC.

Murphy battled all afternoon through cold temperatures and a steady wind to improve to 4-1 on the season. The junior went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits, with three walks and three strikeouts.

WPI got on the board first in the third inning, when Bryan Watkins (Belmont, MA) led off the frame with a triple. Following a Joe Walsh (Weymouth, MA) walk, Mark Dignum (Albany, NY) singled home Watkins with the game's first run. Walsh later scored on a failed pickoff attempt, as WPI took a 2-0 lead.

In the Engineers fourth, Nick Bean (Middleboro, MA) led off with a walk before Swanton sent a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right, staking Murphy to a 4-0 lead. The home run was Swanton's second of the season.

Murphy ran into trouble in the sixth, as the Bears rallied back into the game. Bill Birch (Hamilton, NJ) led off with a walk, followed by a long home run off the bat of Eddie Kalankiewicz (San Diego, CA) that cut the lead to 4-2. Ryan Milligan (Shamong, NJ) followed up with a solo shot of his own, pulling Coast Guard to within a run at 4-3.  Murphy's day ended there, with Alex Hansen (Burlington, CT) coming on to finish the inning.

The Engineers got the three runs back and more, sending four runs home in the home half of the sixth. The key blow came off the bat of Dignum, whose double in the gap produced two runs for WPI. Watkins also had an RBI single in the inning, with another run scoring on a wild pitch, making the score 8-3.

Coast Guard got one run back on a Kevin Keefe (Belmont, MA) RBI infield single before WPI erupted again in the bottom of the seventh. Senior Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA) led off with a double down the line and quickly came around to score as Bean followed with a triple. Swanton delivered Bean with an RBI single to right for his third RBI of the day and a 10-4 WPI lead. Cody McGregor (Westfield, MA) followed with another single, with Swanton scoring all the way from first to make the game 11-4. WPI added three more runs in the inning, scoring twice on wild pitches and once on a Paul Galligan (Weymouth, MA) sac fly, as WPI took a 14-4 advantage into the final innings.

The Bears would not go quietly however, as they mounted a big rally in the top of the ninth. Keith Laird (West Chester, PA) led off with a double, scoring on a Brian Yurovich (Marlboro, MA) RBI single. Yurovich came around with Coast Guard's sixth run on a Birch one-out single. Birch later scored on a fielding error to bring the Bears to within 14-7. Coast Guard then loaded the bases and scored on a passed ball to make it 14-8. With two out, Laird then laced a single to left-center, his second base hit in the inning, driving in two more runs to pull to within 14-10. WPI was able to get out of the jam however, inducing a ground-ball out following Laird's base hit to end the threat and the game with a 14-10 victory.

Dignum was 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs for the Engineers. McGregor was 2-for-5, while Watkins 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored. Laird led the Bears with a 3-for-6 afternoon on top of his two RBIs. Milligan was 2-for-4, Birch had three runs scored, and Kalankiewicz finished the day with two runs and two RBIs for Coast Guard.

WPI is back in action on Thursday, taking on MIT in another home NEWMAC affair. Game time is at 3:30pm. Coast Guard is off until Saturday, when it will face MIT in Cambridge in a NEWMAC doubleheader at noon.

Story by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Sports Information