AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Playing its final two games of its 2019 spring break trip, the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team was swept by Suffolk on Saturday. The Rams won the first game by a 6-0 score and completed the sweep with a 6-0 win in the nightcap.
GAME 1: Suffolk 6, Wentworth 0
Suffolk wasted little time getting on the board as the Rams scored four times in the top of the first inning. After sophomore Will Hopkins (Old Rochester, Mass.) hit a one-out single, senior Trevor Lee (Flanders, N.J.) and sophomore Blasé Cormier (Wayland, Mass.) drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Junior Tim Brigham (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) singled in Hopkins, and, after a strikeout, sophomore Joe Rufo (Cedar Grove, N.J.) delivered a two-out single to score Brigham.
The Rams added a pair of runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead. Junior Rich Gilbride (Beverly, Mass.) doubled to score sophomore Shane Lake (West Roxbury, Mass.), who had led off the inning getting hit by a pitch. Gilbride moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Hopkins sacrifice fly.
Senior Kevin Sinatra (East Boston, Mass.) picked up the win (1-0) for Suffolk as he pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout in which he only walked one batter. Offensively, Rufo was 2-for-4 with two RBI while Brigham, also had a pair of hits.
Leopard senior Jake Smith (Orange, Conn.) had two of Wentworth's three hits in the loss. Senior Leo Coehlo (Marlborough, Mass.) took the loss (1-1), allowing six runs on nine hits and striking out three batters in five innings of work. Freshman Hunter Thornton (Old Lyme, Conn.) pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing just one hit.
GAME 2: Suffolk 6, Wentworth 0
Suffolk got the only run it would need in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to an RBI single from Cormier. Hopkins hit a one-out single and, with two outs, stole second before coming home on the Cormier hit.
The Rams added four runs in the third inning to extend their lead to 5-0. Sophomore Nick San Antonio (Cranston, R.I.) led off reaching on an error and scored on a triple by Gilbride, who came into score on a Hopkins double. After a strikeout Hopkins stole third and came in to score when Cormier hit a home run to right field. Suffolk loaded the bases in hopes of adding to its lead, however, freshman Matt Perconti (Hancock, Maine) got a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning.
In the sixth inning, Hopkins hit a one-out single and went to second on a passed ball. A flyout created the second out, however, Cormier reached on an error to score Hopkins and make it 6-0.
Freshman Steven Rossi (Corning, N.Y.) picked up the win (1-0), allowing two hits, walking four, and striking out eight in six innings of work. Classmate Michael Muscarella (Melrose, Mass.) pitched a scoreless seventh inning, allowing two hits. Hopkins was 4-for-4 with three runs scored, Cormier was 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Brigham was 2-for-3.
Perconti was saddled with the loss (1-1), allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits and striking out five. Junior Ethan Hebard (North Attleboro, Mass.) allowed an unearned run on one hit in an inning of work. Freshman Nolan McManus (Milton, Mass.), sophomore Aidan French (Chicago, Ill.), sophomore Kyle Litwin (Jacksonville, Fla.), and freshman Nate Ladeira (Fall River, Mass.) each had hits for the Black & Gold.
Wentworth stands at 2-8 and has its northern opener scheduled for Thursday (March 14) at Mass. Maritime.
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