WALTHAM, Mass. – Sophomore pinch runner Dan Mitchell (Avon, Mass.) scored on a passed ball in the top of the eighth inning to snap a 7-all tie as the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team held on for a 9-8 win over Lasell in non-conference action Tuesday night.
Winners of two straight, the Leopards improve to 7-10 overall while the Lasers fall to 3-12.
Lasell took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as junior Rob Cutone (Tewksbury, Mass.) led off with a single and scored on a double from junior Andre Marchesseault (Cheshire, Conn.). In the top of the second, Wentworth took a 2-1 lead as junior Jake Smith (Orange, Conn.) led off with a triple – his second triple in his last two at bats – and scored on a junior Andrew Elliott (Rockland, Mass.) double. Elliott went to third on a senior Bryon Kucharski (East Haven, Conn.) ground out and scored when freshman Tommy Madigan (Valley Falls, N.Y.) singled him home.
In the home half of the inning the Lasers tied the game at 2-all, thanks in part to a pair of Leopard errors. With one out senior Jesse Tejero (West Haven, Conn.) walked and went to third when freshman Harrison Silva (Lowell, Mass.) reached on an error. After Silva was thrown out trying to steal, Tejero scored when junior Evan Michalek (Berlin, Conn.) reached on an error.
Wentworth regained the lead in the top of the third on an RBI groundout from senior Tim Elrick (Plymouth, Mass.), which scored classmate Tyler Weninger (Chandler, Ariz.) who hit a one-out single, stole second, and went to third on an error. The Lasers tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when Silva grounded out and scored freshman Sean Doris (Lincoln, R.I.) who had led off with a single, went to second on a walk, and took third on a groundout.
Sophomore Owen Swanson (New Milford, Conn.) hit a one-out double in the top of the fifth and scored on a Weninger single with two outs to give Wentworth a 4-3 lead. Two innings later, the Leopards increased their lead to 5-3 as junior Anthony de la Cruz (Lynn, Mass.) drew a one-out walk and went to third on a Swanson single. De la Cruz came around to score on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Aidan French (Chicago, Ill.).
Lasell scored four times in the home half of the seventh inning to take a 7-5 lead. Silva had an RBI single which scored Tejero, junior Chris Maringo (Farmingville, N.Y.) singled in Silva, Marchesseault reached on a fielder's choice to score Michalek, and Marchesseault scored on a double from senior Dom Mascolo. The top of the eighth saw Wentworth counter with four runs of its own to take a 9-7 lead. Elrick and Smith drew back-to-back walks and each advanced a base on a passed ball. Elliott singled in Elrick which moved Smith to third and Smith scored on a Kucharski double. Mitchell, who had come on to pinch run for Elliott, went to third on Kucharski's double and he scored on a junior Ross Golebiewski (Lyme, Conn.) single.
The Lasers pulled within a run in the home half of the eighth inning as Tejero singled with one out and made his way to third as a result of a stolen base and an error. Silva plated him with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-8. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Maringo reached on an error, however, freshman Ricky Alexy (Newton, Mass.) got a strikeout and a pop out to end the game.
Freshman Nate McDonald (Durham, Conn.) picked up the win (1-0) in relief as he allowed two runs on four hits in 1.2 innings. Alexy notched his first save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth where he struck out two. Weninger went the first 6.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and struck out four. He was also 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI. Elliott (2-for-4, two RBI) and Swanson (2-for-5) each had a multiple-hit game for the Black & Gold.
Wentworth hosts Roger Williams in a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader on Saturday.
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