Baseball Swept by WPI

By Jim Fenton

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Thursday night.

After losing the opener, 10-5, to the Engineers, the Bears also fell in the nightcap, 7-4.

WPI (4-3) had 25 hits in the twinbill while the Bears fell to 2-6 with one game remaining on the spring break trip.

BSU junior Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) hit his fourth home run in the past four games, connecting on a two-run shot in the seventh inning of the second game.

Game One: WPI 10, Bridgewater State 5

Winning pitcher Brian Riley (Portland, Maine), a graduate student, struck out eight and allowed four hits in five innings for WPI.

The Engineers opened a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, added four in the second, three in the third and one in the fourth for the 10-1 advantage.

In the first, senior Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, N.J.) doubled down the left-field line with two outs and scored on a triple to center by senior Andrew Cash (Marlboro, Mass.).

A singled through the left side by junior Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, Conn.) gave the Engineers the two-run lead.

BSU got one back in the bottom of the inning when senior Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) reached on an error and advanced on a stolen base and wild pitch before scoring on a groundout by Flaherty.

The Engineers' lead went to 6-1 in the second with the Bears making a pair of errors.

Sophomore James DiGiovanni (Kennebunk, Maine) singled, junior Jacob Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.) had an infield hit and sophomore Matt Shea (Andover, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice with DiGiovanni scoring on an error.

Burns singled, and with two outs, Lattimer reached on an error for a run. With the bases loaded, sophomore Spencer Merrick (Abington, Mass.) walked for a run and senior Gavin George (Salem, N.H.) was hit by a pitch for another run.

The lead went to 9-1 in the third on a two-run double to center by Burns and an RBI hit by Cash.

WPI's final run in the fourth was produced when freshman Chuck Cappello (Southboro, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, DiGiovanni reached on a fielder's choice with an error and Cash had an RBI infield hit.

The Bears closed to 10-4 in the fifth as junior Riley Thornell (Wareham, Mass.) singled to right and junior Danny Jasmin (East Meadow, N.Y.) and Emerson walked to load the bases. A groundout by senior Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) scored a run and Flaherty had a two-run single to left.

In the sixth, Thornell grounded out to drive in the game's final run after a Philip Messina (Durkirk, N.Y.) infield hit, a fielder's choice and a double by freshman Jamie Luna (Warwick, R.I.).

Senior Shane Handrahan (Raynham, Mass.) was the losing pitcher, giving up eight runs (four earned) in 2 1-3 innings with three strikeouts.

Burns led the WPI offense, going 3-for-5. Messina had two hits for BSU and Flaherty had three RBI.

Game Two: WPI 7, Bridgewater State 4

The Engineers held a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the fourth, then scored six runs in the next three innings.

BSU gave up a run in the first when Wiberg reached on an error, went to second on a single by Burns and scored on a two-out single by Lattimer.

WPI opened a 3-0 lead in the fourth when Capello had a two-run triple to right-center after hits by Lattimer and George.

The Bears closed within 3-2 in the fifth as Emerson tripled home senior DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.), who had reached on an infield hit, and a wild pitch scored Emerson. 

BSU fell behind, 6-2, in the fifth when Cash had an RBI single through the right side and Lattimer drove in two with a single up the middle.

WPI finished its scoring with a run in the sixth as Wiberg singled, stole second and came home on Shea's single to left.

The Bears scored twice in the top of the seventh when Flaherty homered to left, scoring Emerson, who had reached on an error.

Starter Nick Reiser (Nahant, Mass.) went four innings, striking out four, and took the loss.

BSU and WPI will meet again in a doubleheader in Northborough, Mass., on March 22.

The Bears finish the trip on Friday at 1 p.m. by playing Cairn University of Langhorne, Pa., which is 7-2, including 5-1 in Myrtle Beach.