Petruzzelli Belts Two-Run Homer As Baseball Drops 10-3 Non-League Decision At WPI

MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Friday, March 17, 2017

New England Baseball Complex, Northboro, Mass.

FINAL:              WPI 10, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 3

NORTHBORO, Mass. --  Sophomore Ryan Tropeano (Pembroke, Mass.) rapped out a pair of hits, including a three-run inside-the-park homer, and scored three runs to lead WPI to a 10-3 non-league college baseball victory over Massachusetts Maritime Friday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex.

The host Engineers (7-4) overcame an early 2-0 deficit by plating a pair of runs in their first at-bat on RBI singles by juniors Matt Howard (Worcester, Mass.) and Evan Lacroix (Methuen, Mass.), and Tropeano gave WPI the lead for good in the second with his inside-the-park round-tripper to center field.  Graduate student Anthony Capuano (Stoneham, Mass.) extended the Engineers’ edge to 6-2 in the fifth with a solo homer (his second of the season), and after the visiting Buccaneers (2-2) got a run back in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout by junior Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass.), the hosts iced their triumph with three runs in the seventh on a run-scoring double off the bat of sophomore Steven Gallagher (Coventry, R.I.) that was followed by bases-loaded walks issued to Capuano and Lacroix.  Howard’s RBI two-bagger in the bottom of the eighth closed out WPI’s scoring, as the Engineers amassed 10 hits and took advantage of eight walks on the afternoon.

Howard and Capuano joined Tropeano with two hits each in the win for WPI, as sophomore Doug Rives (Bethany, Conn.) earned his third victory in as many decisions on the season by scattering five hits and striking out seven over six innings of work.  Senior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) staked Massachusetts Maritime to the early 2-0 lead in the opening frame with a two-run homer to left center (his first of the season), as both he and sophomore Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass.) collected two hits each as part of a six-hit attack.  Junior Billy Keane (Braintree, Mass.) and freshman Jackson Simone (Seattle, Wash.) also singled for the Buccaneers, as senior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) allowed eight hits and fanned five over the first five frames in suffering the setback on the mound for the visitors.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts Johnson & Wales in a non-league outing on Monday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 3:30 p.m., while WPI entertains Gordon in a non-league contest on Monday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex that also begins at 3:30 p.m.