WEYMOUTH, Mass. – Junior Kyle O'Neill (Haverhill, Mass.) lifted a solo home run in the bottom of the eight inning to snap a 7-all tie as the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team (6-8) defeated Gordon (6-12), 8-7, Wednesday afternoon at Libby Field.

Wentworth 8, Gordon 7

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Wentworth Batting Leaders:  Nolan Freeman (2-for-5, RBI); Christian Peruzzi (2-for-5); Kyle Desjardins (1-for-2, 2 BB); Kyle O'Neill (1-for-4, RBI)
Wentworth Pitching Leaders:  Clayton Harper ((W, 1-0) 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 K); Jon Campbell (2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R); Matt Perconti (2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 4K); Jacob Knowles (1 IP, 1 R, 2 K)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After the first two batters were retired by junior Jacob Knowles (Concord, N.H.) to open the game, a hit batter and three walks gave Gordon a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, senior Aidan French (Chicago, Ill.) led off with a walk and went to second on a junior Nolan Freeman (Braintree, Mass.) single. Graduate student Dillon Koster (Woburn, Mass.) singled to load the bases and junior Kyle Desjardins (North Granby, Conn.) lifted a fly ball to right. French tagged up on the catch but was thrown out at home.
• Gordon added a run in the third inning on an RBI single to make it 2-0, however, Wentworth tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, freshman Ayrton DiPina (Pawtucket, R.I.) was hit by a pitch and he moved to third on a pair of wild pitches. French drew a walk and on a steal attempt, the throw to third to try and pick DiPina off sailed into the outfield allowing him to score. Freeman followed with a single which scored French.
• The Leopards took their first lead of the day in the bottom of the fifth inning as Desjardins walked, stole second, and moved to third on a wild pitch. A second wild pitch of the inning allowed him to score. Wentworth had runners at second and third with two outs, however, a strikeout ended the inning.
• Gordon tied the game in the top of the sixth on a junior Josh Popovitch home run but Wentworth put up four in the bottom of the seventh to take a 7-3 lead. Koster led off with a walk and moved to third on a Desjardins double. O'Neill lifted a sacrifice fly, scoring Koster and Desjardins scored on a senior Kyle Litwin (Jacksonville, Fla.) double. French had a two-run single, which scored Litwin and freshman Matt Rice (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
• A walk, a single, and a walk loaded the bases for Gordon in the top of the eighth and graduate student Connor Hartman (Bethel, Conn.) cleared the bases with a grand slam, tying the game at 7-all. With runners at second and third and two outs, Popovitch was intentionally walked and a pop up ended the inning.
• With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, O'Neill hit his first home run of the season, a shot to left field.
• Freshman Clayton Harper (Somerset, Mass.) struck out the opening batter of the ninth before giving up back-to-back walks.  A fly out to center kept runners at first and second and a ground out eneded the contest.
• Harper notches his first collegiate win (1-0) as he allowed one run on one hit and struck out one in two innings. Freeman and freshman Christian Peruzzi (Plymouth, Mass.) had a pair of hits for the Black & Gold while O'Neill drove in two.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today marked the 62nd all-time meeting between the two programs. Wentworth leads 36-26.

NEXT UP:

• Wednesday is at Endicott for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at Noon..

For the latest on Wentworth Athletics, follow the Leopards via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Wentworth Leopards "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.