Baseball Season Ends With Loss To WPI In ECAC Semifinal

Worcester, MA --- Senior outfielder Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA) mashed a three-run homer high over the fence in center in the bottom of the first inning, sparking top-seeded WPI to a 13-8 win over Becker in the ECAC New England Baseball Championship semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Class of 1893 Field. The win gives the Engineers a berth in the championship game at 4pm against the winner of the day's second semifinal matchup between second-seed Worcester State and sixth-seed Fitchburg State.

The Hawks (18-15-1) picked up an early 3-0 lead off WPI starter Nolan Murphy (Shrewsbury, MA) in the top of the first. Joe Corey (Billerica, MA) started the rally with a one-out single to left and, following a walk to Jim Ceglarek (Chicago, IL), came around to score on a Frank Vaccaro (Shrewsbury, MA) base hit for a 1-0 Hawks lead. Weston Meehan (Thomson, GA) followed with the key hit of the inning, a double in the gap in left-center that scored both Ceglarek and Vaccaro as Becker jumped out in front by three.

After WPI's Mark Dignum (Albany, NY) led off the bottom of the first with a hit-by pitch and Matt Moreau (Manchester, NH) reached on a fielder's choice, McNee drove a 2-1 offering into the trees behind the center field fence for his 10th HR of the season, tying the game after one. Bryan Watkins (Belmont, MA) gave the Engineers their first lead of the day in the second, blasting a solo shot to left center for a 4-3 WPI advantage.

Becker responded with a single run in the third to once again knot the score. Corey singled and stole second to lead off the inning, eventually coming around to score the tying run on a Dan Briand (Northbridge, MA) sacrifice fly. WPI regained the lead in the home half of the third, plating three runs on an error, a Cody McGregor (Westfield, MA) RBI single and a Moreau sac fly. Third baseman Nick Bean (Middleboro, MA) added WPI's third home run of the game in the fifth, a solo shot for his 4th long ball of the season, to stake Murphy to an 8-4 edge after five innings of play. Bean would single his next time up in the seventh, setting the stage for Watkins' RBI triple in the right-center gap, giving WPI a 9-4 lead.

The Hawks quickly got right back in the game in the top of the eighth inning, as Corey and Ceglarek led off the frame with singles off new WPI pitcher Sean Minor (Los Angeles, CA). Later in the inning with one out, Vaccaro launched a home run to dead center that cut the Engineers' lead to 9-7, giving the Hawks new life. The blast was Vaccaro's fourth big fly of the year.

In the latter half of the eighth, WPI pushed across four runs to break the game open. Dignum led off with a single followed by McNee narrowly missing his second home run of the game on a play that was ruled a ground-rule double. Both runners would later score on a fielding error with two outs in the inning. McGregor capped off the day's scoring later in the inning with a double to right-center that scored the final two WPI runs in the 13-8 victory.

Murphy picked up the win for WPI, improving his record to 7-2 on the year. The Shrewsbury native allowed four runs on five hits while striking out five over seven innings of work. Pierece Onthank (Fairfield, Conn) suffered the loss for Becker .

McNee led the Engineers at the plate with a 2-for-4 day, scoring three runs and driving in three. Bean was 3-for-4 with four runs and an RBI, while Watkins and McGregor each had two hits and three RBI.

Vaccaro led the Hawks at the dish with a 2-for-5 day, scoring twice and adding four RBI. Ceglarek was 2-for-3 with two runs, while Corey was the sparkplug for Becker at the top of its lineup, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored.

Seniors Vaccaro, Briand and Geoff Sinnott Jr. (Coventry, RI) each had a busy last day at Becker on tap, playing in the ECAC Semifinal before heading to Worcester's DCU Center for Becker's commencement ceremonies.

Story by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Sports Information