NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Baseball team surrendered four unearned runs in the fifth to fall to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 12-7, at the New England Baseball Complex on Tuesday afternoon. The offense stranded nine runners on base while the Engineers pounded out 14 hits in the winning effort.
It is the first loss of the season for RWU as they saw their program-best ten-game winning streak come to an end, falling to 10-1 on the season. The Engineers, meanwhile, improve to 4-5 on the campaign.
Neither starter factored into the decision in this one.
Ben Bonavita (East Longmeadow, Mass.) went the first 3.2 innings for RWU, walking four and allowing seven hits resulting in six runs, all of them earned. Andrew Dupuis (Raymond, N.H.) got the nod for WPI and he also got knocked around to the tune of six runs, all earned, on six walks and five hits while striking out four.
Instead, Carter Bach (Albany, N.Y.) got the win for the hosts after throwing three innings of one-run baseball in relief.
Dan Massaro (Fairfield, Conn.) took the loss for the Hawks, pitching 3.1 innings and surrendering six runs but only two of them were earned. He also allowed seven hits and three walks, striking out six along the way as he fell to 1-1.
Hawk Highlights
Jack Morin: 1-for-2, SB, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 2 RS
Christopher Flynn: 1-for-3, 2B, BB, 3 RBI
Brandon Jenkins: 2-for-5, 2B, RS
Matt Massaro: 1-for-3, SB, 2 RS
Ben Bonavita: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Dan Massaro: (L, 1-1), 3.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
For The Opponents
Andrew Brooks: 3-for-3, HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI, 3 RS
DJ Brooks: 2-for-4, 3B, 3 RBI
Dylan Conners: 3-for-5, 2 RBI
Martin McCormack: 4-for-4, BB, RBI, 2 RS
Andrew Dupuis: 4.0+ IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 4 K
Carter Bach: (W, 2-1), 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
How It Happened
As they had done in six of their ten contests entering this contest, Roger Williams got on the scoreboard in the first inning. They loaded the bases with two outs by way of a trio of walks and
Christopher Flynn (Randolph, N.J.) staked the Hawks to an advantage. With the runners in motion, Flynn popped the 3-2 pitch into shallow center and despite his best efforts, DJ Brooks (Danvers, Mass.) could not come up with it for WPI. All three runs crossed the plate and Flynn reached second and while he was thrown out trying to advance to third on an errand throw back into the infield, he did put RWU in front 3-0.
Ben Bonavita (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who was both pitching and serving as the designated hitter in this one, tossed a clean bottom of the first but ran into trouble in the second. The Engineers immediately loaded the bases on a pair of free passes and a single. Bonavita made a significant stride towards limiting the damage by forcing Joe Salvon (Longmeadow, Mass.) to roll over into a double play and while a run did score, there were two down. Another walk kept the inning alive though, and Brooks made Bonavita pay by ripping a triple down the right field line to plate both runners and even things at three.
WPI got three more in the fourth as once again they quickly loaded the bases by way of a walk, a hit batsman, and a single, though this time it was with one out. Andrew Brooks (Millis, Mass.) brought in the go-ahead run on a single that remained in the infield after it ricocheted off of Bonavita. Jeffery Brennan (Amsterdam, N.Y.) followed by chopping one to third that
Matt Massaro (Fairfield, Conn.) handled and touched the bag to get the runner advancing but Brennan avoided a double play by beating the throw. An RBI single by Dylan Conners (Westboro, Mass.) ended Bonavita's day on the mound but
Dan Massaro (Fairfield, Conn.) got out of the jam with a K.
The Hawks had an answer in the visiting half of the fifth. Massaro got things started with a walk and
Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) clubbed a ground-rule double to right center to put two in scoring position.
Jack Morin (North Andover, Mass.) singled into left to score Massaro, chasing WPI starter Andrew Dupuis (Raymond, N.H.) in favor of Carter Bach (Albany, N.Y.). Morin promptly swiped second on the fresh wing as the throw by Salvon was offline allowing Jenkins to dash home. Bonavita walked and Flynn sacrificed both runners into scoring position for
Tommy Hobin (Madison, Conn.). Hobin grounded out, bringing in the tying run in the process, but RWU could not get anything more in the inning.
A couple miscues came back to haunt Roger Williams as the Engineers took the lead for good in the bottom of the frame. Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, N.Y.) led off with a strikeout, but Morin could not handle it, getting charged with a passed ball, as Hand reached on a dropped third strike. He advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Martin McCormack (Quincy, Mass.) before Salvon got plunked. Both runners advanced on a balk, but Massaro picked up a strikeout for out number two. DJ Brooks lifted a sacrifice fly, that should have been the third out, to plate McCormack then Andrew Brooks deposited a home run to rightfield making the score 10-6 in favor of the hosts.
A Morin SAC Fly in the sixth got the Hawks within three and they were looking for another in the seventh after Flynn took a free pass to start the inning.
Alex Gulino (Ashburn, Va.) would pinch hit two batters later, but he would hit a soft liner to the first baseman who made the catch before doubling off Flynn with the tag
Connors notched his second run-scoring single of the game in the home half and Salvon tacked on another with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to give the Engineers some insurance. Meanwhile, Roger Williams got some traffic on the bases in each of the final two innings but ultimately fell for the first time this season.
Coach's Corner
Well today was a let down! We played poorly in all three phases of the game. We pitched from behind in hitters counts entirely to much and gave away to many free passes. We scratched and clawed our way back and never quit but just could not get the shutdown inning we needed, specifically in the fifth after we put up a three spot up to tie it ip. Losing can be hard. It Sometimes its exactly what you need. It humbles you and makes you hungry to dig deep and come out with a different mindset next time you play. With that in mind, we are looking forward to getting back out on the diamond tomorrow.
What's Next
Roger Williams finally returns to their own diamond as they will begin conference play hosting Nichols College for a home-opening doubleheader on Saturday. It will be a late morning start at Paolino Field as the game one start time is scheduled for 11:00 AM.
