It’s crowded at the plate after Dan McCormack rips the big blow of the game, a two-run double in the sixth inning of Westfield’s 6-3 win over WPI. (Photo by David Caspole)
LEESBURG, Fla. – The Westfield State University baseball team split a doubleheader with WPI on Monday at historic Pat Thomas Stadium. The Owls dropped the opener, 8-4, then came back to win the second game, 6-3.
Infielders Vinny D’Ambrosio (Mahopac, NY) and Zach Blanchard (Warwick, RI) combined for four hits, five runs scored and three runs batted in as the WPI baseball team took game one of a doubleheader.
The Engineers rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the nightcap to tie the game at 3-3 in the fifth, but the Owls earned the split by pushing across three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to win, 6-3. The game-winning run scored on a wild pitch and sophomore Dan McCormack (Shelton, CT) – a transfer from Elms College – followed with a two-run double. McCormack drove in four runs in the victory.
In the opener, WPI’s Craig Teed allowed two runs on two hits in the first inning but he settled down thereafter, giving up just one run and scattering three hits over his final five innings of work.
D’Ambrosio led off the bottom of the first with a single and later scored on a DJ Ouellette (Watertown, CT) sacrifice fly. D’Ambrosio played a role in three different run-scoring innings for WPI, driving in runs in both the second and third innings.
Blanchard highlighted a three-run second for the Engineers as he singled and scored, helping WPI to jump ahead to a 4-2 advantage.
The Owls got a run back in the third inning, but WPI regained control in the bottom of the fourth, tacking on another three runs to make the score 7-3.
Westfield outhit WPI, 9-8, in the opener but the Owls committed five errors. Leadoff batter Tyler Adams (2 for 4) was the only player with multiple hits.
Blanchard and Nick Comei (Haverhill, MA) both had two hits in the second game.
Westfield State was led in the second game by McCormack (Shelton, CT) and Danny DiMatteo (Dennis, MA), who both had two hits.
The Owls’ Justin Thomson (Yarmouth Port, MA) tossed two scoreless innings to close out the game and pick up the win.
PITCHING POWERS OWLS PAST PENN STATE: Led by strong pitching performances from Mike Molta and Peter Cassidy, Westfield State University opened its 2014 baseball season with a 5-0, 4-1 doubleheader sweep of Penn State Altoona on Sunday.
Westfield first-year head coach Nathan Bashaw gave the starting nod to his junior aces and they silenced the bats of the Lions from the Mountain City for most of the day. Molta tossed a three-hit shutout in the first game with three walks and six strikeouts, including three Ks in the final inning.
Cassidy hurled six and a third innings, allowing one earned run, one walk and seven hits while striking out five. He was lifted from the game after the first two Penn State batters rapped singles to open the seventh inning. Sophomore Pete Liimatainen, a 6-2, 205-pound sophomore, recorded the final two outs for the pitching save.
In the opener, the Owls scored a first-inning run. Sophomore shortstop Tyler Adams led off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Pat McWilliams’ sacrifice fly.
Adams stroked an RBI single in the third inning and sophomore shortstop Connor Sheridan laced a bad-hop, two-RBI single in the fourth.
Sophomore catcher E.G. McMillan led off Westfield’s final at bat with a ringing double down the right field line. He advanced to third on a Sheridan single and scored on Shane Lynch’s groundout.
The Owls also scored a run in the first inning of the nightcap on an RBI double by McWilliams. They scored twice in the third inning for a 3-0 lead on a runscoring single from Danny DiMatteo and a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Tanguay.
Sheridan collected four hits in the twinbill sweep; he was 3 for 3 in the opener. Adams was 2 for 4 with a double in the first game.
Westfield was outhit in the second game, 7-6, with McWilliams and Lynch pounding doubles.
