WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University baseball team were knocked off in a doubleheader with WPI on Sunday afternoon as the Engineers earned a 7-2 victory in game one before holding off a late comeback attempt from the Cougars in game two for a 7-5 result at Granger Field to complete a weekend home-and-home series with the local foe. 

Clark University was led by a 2-for-4 showing at the dish from Zachary Gitschier (Lowell, Mass.) during the game one setback with the junior scoring a run. Graduate Andrew Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) drove in an RBI on a 1-for-4 performance while Torsten Sloan Anderson (Shelburne Falls, Mass.) was strong through 4.1 innings in the start, striking out seven and surrendering one earned run on one hit. 

Sloan Anderson gave the Cougars a boost out of the gates as the senior fanned four in his first two innings, striking out the side in the second. WPI threatened in the top of the third as it got a runner on third, but Sloan Anderson escaped without harm. Clark went on to give the senior a lead in the home half of the frame as Thibault plated Gitschier on an RBI single for the 1-0 advantage.  

WPI knotted it up in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly from DJ Brooks and would jump ahead in the top of the seventh on an RBI double from Dylan Connors. Clark responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the seventh as Billy Sullivan (Hicksville, N.Y.) scored on a defensive miscue to make it 2-2.

The Engineers grabbed the lead in the eighth inning as TJ DellaCroce delivered an RBI triple to make it 3-2. WPI pushed across four more runs on four hits over the remainder of the game to earn the 7-2 victory to start the day. 

In game two, Clark was led by a 2-for-5 showing at the dish from graduate Nick Jordan (Seaford, N.Y.) with the infielder driving in three runs in the 7-5 loss. The Cougars collected nine hits in the nightcap with the top four in the order - Derek Lefebvre (Groton, Mass.), David Egan (North Scituate, R.I.), James Huber (Rochester, N.Y.), Andrea Casabianca (Yonkers, N.Y.) - all supplying one hit apiece. 

WPI controlled the contest for the majority of the game with the Engineers holding a 7-0 lead in the top of the eighth with Jeffrey Brennan coming through for a pair of RBI singles in the contest, plating DJ Brooks both times. 

The bats for Clark heated up late in the contest as the Cougars five of the nine hits in the game came in the final two at-bats. Clark cut into the deficit in the bottom of the eighth as a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly from Jordan made it a 7-2 game.

The Cougars made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth as Huber led off the frame with a double off the top of the left-field fence before scoring on a wild pitch. The knock sparked a rally as Sullivan singled to move Connor Rulnick (Middlefield, Conn.), who reached on a walk, to third base. One batter later, Jordan drove in both two runs to make it a 7-5 score. 

The momentum continued for the host as Anthony LoCasto (New Rochelle, N.Y.) was plunked with two strikes and two outs in the ninth to give Lefebvre a chance, but the graduate grounded out to the shortstop to end the game with the 7-5 final score. 

Game Details:

Score: WPI 7, Clark 2 (GM1); Clark 7, WPI 5 (GM2)

Records: Clark University (1-7, 1-3 NEWMAC) // WPI (4-4, 2-4 NEWMAC)

Location: Granger Field (Worcester, Mass.)

Up Next:

Clark University is off in the coming week before taking on Springfield College for a doubleheader at Granger Field on April 24 starting at 12:00 PM.