DANVERS, Mass. – A marathon battle gave the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team a win in its Commonwealth Coast Conference opener as the Leopards held on to defeat Gordon, 3-2, in 13 innings before falling in the nightcap, 6-1, in a game called in the sixth inning due to darkness.
GAME ONE: Wentworth 3, Gordon 2 (13 Innings)
Wentworth nearly scored in the top of the first inning as sophomore Owen Swanson (New Milford, Conn.) led off with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. After senior Tyler Wenginer (Chandler, Ariz.) walked, Swanson stole third, however was out at home to end the inning. The Leopards had another chance an inning later when senior Tim Elrick (Plymouth, Mass.) drew a leadoff walk, went to second on a sacrifice bunt, and moved to third on a groundout. However, a groundout ended the inning.
Both teams battled along through the end of the seventh inning with neither able to break the scoreless tie. The ninth inning saw both teams leave a runner in scoring position and, in the 10th inning, Wentworth early took advantage of a pair of errors to plate its first run but left a runner on second to end the threat. In the home half of the inning sophomore John Lagerfeldt (Stratford, Conn.) led off with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. An intentional walk was issued to bring a force out back into play and a flyout and ground out ended the hosts' threat.
An inning later, Gordon nearly walked off with a 1-0 win as the Fighting Scots got a one-out single from junior Christian Hodge (Waltham, Mass.) who went to third on a single by senior Travis Benoit (Worcester, Mass.). Sophomore Joseph Mack (East Longmeadow, Mass.) hit into a fielder's choice which saw Benoit out at home and a fly out ended the inning.
Wentworth broke the deadlock in the top of the 13th, scoring three times. Swanson led off with a double and scored when freshman Aidan French (Chicago, Ill.) reached on a two-base error. Weninger doubled in French and, after a groundout moved him to third, Elrick drove him in.
Down to its last at bat, the Fighting Scots scored twice to pull within a run, however, the Leopards would get out of a jam. Junior Daniel Quint (Wells, Maine) singled and went to second on a sophomore Erik Gauer (Wayland, N.Y.) walk. A Hodge single loaded the bases and Weninger was summoned for freshman Ricky Alexy (Newton, Mass.), who had come in to get the final out of the 12th. Weninger gave up back-to-back singles to Benoit and Mack, however, got a popup and a strikeout to end the game.
Swanson and Smith had two hits apiece for Wentworth. Alexy picked up the win, allowing two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings while Weninger notched the save as he allowed two hits and fanned one in an inning of work. Sophomore Ryan Obin (Plymouth, Mass.), junior Ben Rexford (Lancaster, N.H.), freshman Nate McDonald (Durham, Conn.), and senior Robby Sheldon (Dover, N.H.) combined for 10.2 scoreless innings of work, striking out a total of 12 batters.
GAME TWO: Gordon 6, Wentworth 1 (Six Innings)
Junior Alec Willey (San Diego, Calif.) hit a one-out double in the bottom of the first and went to third when Quint reached on an error. Willey scored on a sacrifice fly from Gauer, giving the Fighting Scots a 1-0 lead. Wentworth evened the score in the top of the second as junior Andrew Elliott (Rockland, Mass.) led off with a double and Smith drew a one-out walk. Junior Ross Golebiewski (Lyme, Conn.) drove Elliott in with a single.
Gordon took the lead for good in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Lagerfeldt and tacked on four runs in the fifth inning with two coming on a Benoit double. Leading 6-1 heading into the sixth, the Fighting Scots got a pair of strikeouts and a ground out sandwiched around a Weninger single to take the win as the game was called due to darkness.
Weninger suffered the loss (0-2) as he allowed six runs on nine hits and struck out two in five innings. Golebiewski had two of Wentworth's four hits.
Wentworth (5-6, 1-1 CCC) is at Brandeis on Monday afternoon.
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