Baseball Sails Past Mass. Maritime

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Seven student-athletes recorded two hits apiece, including senior Michael Petit (Sandwich, Mass.) who also drove in three runs as the Wentworth Institute of Technology baseball team (18-7) defeated Mass. Maritime (10-12), 9-4, in non-conference action Wednesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Wentworth nearly jumped on top in its first at bat with junior Jake Prisco (Bridgewater, Mass.), freshman Christian Roncal (Glendale, Ariz.), and senior Christian Peruzzi (Plymouth, Mass.) each recording a hit to open the game. While a double play took a runner off the basepaths, Petit was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases. However, a line out ended the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Mass. Maritime had runners at first and second with two outs but freshman Jacob DeCoste (Medfield, Mass.) got a fly out to end the inning.
• The Leopards jumped on the board in the fourth inning with Petit's one-out home run leading the way. Graduate student Aaron Lundgren (Portsmouth, N.H.) singled and went to second on a passed ball. Sophomore Nick Cullinan (Sandy Hook, Conn.) followed with a walk and freshman Matthew Robinson (Mystic, Conn.) singled in Lundgren. Sophomore Mike Sibert (Lexington, Mass.) singled to score Cullinan and moved Robinson to second. Prisco walked to load the bases, however, a strikeout and a ground out ended Wentworth's three-run inning.
• The Buccaneers plated a single run in the home half of the inning to make it 4-1 on an RBI single and added their second run an inning later, thanks to an RBI bunt single.
• Using a four-run sixth inning, the Black & Gold extended their lead to 7-2. Prisco and Roncal had back-to-back RBI doubles, while, with the bases loaded, Petit knocked in two with a one-out single. The Leopards got single runs in the seventh and eighth innings as Sibert drove in Robinson with a single in the seventh and sophomore Matthew Favazzo (Billerica, Mass.) scored on a passed ball in the eighth.
• Mass. Maritime used a pair of bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the inning to make it a 9-4 game. However, sophomore Conor Whitehead came in and induced a groundout, ending the threat. Whitehead then set the hosts down in order in the ninth.
• DeCoste improved to 2-0 on the season as he pitched the first three innings, allowing zero runs on two hits and struck out two. Freshman Cooper Smith (Burlington, Vt.) allowed one run on two hits over an inning, while senior Clayton Harper (Somerset, Mass.) and senior Ryan Putney (Exeter, N.H.) combined to throw 2.2 scoreless innings. Whitehead picked up the save, striking out three of the four batters he faced. In addition to Petit, Prisco, Roncal, Peruzzi, Lundgren, Robinson, and Sibert each had two hits.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today was the 36th all-time meeting between the two teams.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth is at Nichols on Saturday.

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