03/19/2009
Baseball Drops Non-Conference Game to Wentworth, 8-5

WORCESTER, MASS. 3/17/09 - Junior Anthony Carbone (Goshen, Conn.) went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead Wentworth Institute of Technology to an 8-5 non-conference baseball victory over Clark University at Granger Field on Thursday afternoon.

Wentworth improved to 8-4 overall. Clark dipped to 5-9 on the season.

Carbone's two-run blast gave the Leopards a 5-1 lead in the third inning.

Clark rallied with three runs to cut the deficit to 5-4 in the bottom of the frame. Freshman Jeremy Gerber (Amherst, Mass.) led off with a double to right center, and a batter later scored on sophomore Kevin Kopecs (Katonah, N.Y.) RBI hit to leftfield. Then junior Phil DiMarco (Bellingham, Mass.) stroked his team-leading fourth triple of the season to score Kopec and bring the Cougars within one run.

Wentworth pushed its advantage up to three runs (7-4) when Carbone drove in a run in the fifth and Diadato, who singled to get on, scored on a wild pitch in the sixth. The Leopards threatened once more in the seventh, but Clark reliever Brendan Solecki (Portsmouth, R.I.) pitched out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout and flyout to end the inning.

Clark's defense kept them in the game in the ninth. After the Cougars allowed a run with one out and a runner at third, senior pitcher Dave Gagnon came on to get the next batter to flyout to centerfielder Steve DeMartino (East Haven, Conn.), who then threw out the Leopard runner at home to end the threat.

The Cougars would not go away quietly. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Gerbers single to third gave Clark new life. After Peter Lewis (Gardiner, Maine) drew a walk to put runners on first and second, Kopec delivered a run-producing single to trail 8-5. However, Leopard pitcher Chris Carbone (Goshen, Conn.) retired the next batter on a groundout to secure the victory.

Kopec, DiMarco, Mitch DeLorenzo (Berlin, Conn.) and Gerber each collected two hits in the game. Kopec also drove in a pair of runs.

Senior Greg Long (Milford, Mass.) took the loss for Clark. He gave up seven runs on nine hits while strikeout two in 5.1 innings of work.

Junior Doug Papuga (Branford, Conn.) fanned seven in 6.0 innings to pick up the win.

Clark will play at cross-town rival WPI on Saturday at Noon. Wentworth will play Colby-Sawyer College at Strong Field in East Bridgewater, Mass. on Sunday (Noon).