NORTHBORO, Mass. – Suffolk baseball used four homers off three different bats to take down Worcester Polytechnic Institution in a see-saw non-conference contest Wednesday at the New England Baseball Complex (NEBC).   

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 15 | WPI 13
RECORDS: Suffolk (9-4) | WPI (10-4)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk started the scoring in the first inning. Jonny Gilbride barreled a one-out double down the left line and advanced to third on a passed ball to set up Garret Roberts RBI on a sac fly to left. Three free bases later thanks to two hit by pitches and one walk was followed by an erratic throw by WPI's pitcher Henry Sniezek, which gave the games a 2-0 edge. 

That gap extended to five in the second. Gilbride and Roberts traded storylines. The former put up a sac fly with a long out to center to plate Joe Norris, who walked, and the latter raked a one-run double to right center. Harry Painter got in on the RBI fun with a base hit to center that allowed Roberts to come in after taking third on a wild pitch.  

In the fourth, Gilbride picked up his second RBI on the day to lengthen the Rams lead to 6-0. Colin Flynn knocked a one-out double to right center and reached third on a wild pitch in time to score on Gilbride's ground out to short. 

WPI waited 3.5 innings to responded and did so in lopsided fashion as the Engineers put up 10 runs on 10 hits and one Rams error to put the blue-and-gold in a 10-6 whole with four complete in the books. 

The Rams wasted little time to answer as they righted the wrong in the top of the fifth. Alex Sorenti-Burns teed off on fresh arm Andrew Gray to get the rally going. Four batters later, with runners on second and third, Norris joined the sac fly gang when he brought in Sam Armbruster, who wore a pitch. Max Martin, who singled, came in behind Flynn's base hit through the left side to make it a one-run game, before Gilbride sent a ball out of the park to push Suffolk in front by one. The comeback continued as Roberts singled and made his way to third on an error by the Engineers third baseman during Painter's at bat. A ball got away from WPI's backstop Jonathan Lattimer and Roberts took advantage to pad the margin to a pair, 12-10.  

The back-and-forth scoring affair continued into the home half of the seventh when Andrew Cash logged a two-out, two-run shot to level the playing field at 12-all.  

Sorenti-Burns had his second round tripper of the day to get the eighth going. Three batters and one walk later, Norris had a goner of his own to stretch the distance to 15-12 Suffolk. 

The Engineers kept things interesting as they chipped the margin back to two with one run in the bottom of the eighth. 

Suffolk had a chance to add more room in the ninth but stranded a pair of bases runners to keep things 15-13 as the game headed to the bottom of the ninth. 

It appeared that the Rams did not insurance as Patrick Desmond quickly secured the first two outs with a pair of punchouts, one looking and one swinging. The Engineers threatened and had the winning run at the plate after Tommy Burns doubled to center and Zachary Roethlein walked. After a mound visit, Desmond got Jack Zawacki to send a deep ball to right field where Jack Mihalchik was there to make the play and lock up the marathon victory. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• John McDevitt earned the win behind a two-run, five-hit, two-walk, five-strikeout effort over 3.2 innings. 
• Desmond picked up the save. In 2.0 innings of relief, he allowed one run on three hits and one walk with three Ks. 
• TJ Dimitriou started for Suffolk (3.1 IP, 10 H, 10 R, 1 BB, 2 K). 
• Eric DePiero took the loss for WPI after giving up three runs on three hits, two of which were homers, with two walks and two punchouts in 2.0 innings. 
• Pins compiled a six-hit, six-run (five earned) three-walk, two-strikeout stat line in 4.0 frames. 
• Gray (6 R, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 K) and Henry Sniezek (0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K) shoved 1.0 inning and 2.0 innings, respectively out of the pen.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Roberts went 4-for-4 at the dish with two RBI, two runs scored and one stolen base. Three of his hits were doubles. 
• Flynn finished with three hits, three runs, one RBI and one stolen base. 
• Sorenti-Burns pitched in two hits, both homers, to finish with two RBI and two runs scored. 
• Norris notched three RBI, one hit, a dinger, two walks, two runs scored and one stolen base. 
• Max Martin tallied two hits, two runs scored, two walks and one stolen base. 
• Gilbride added four RBI, two hits and two runs. Both of his hits were good for extra bases with one two-bagger and one four-bagger. 

NOTEWORTHY

• For the first time since 1999, Suffolk defeated WPI. The win snapped a four-game skid versus the Engineers. 
• The Rams moved to 13-15 all-time against the Engineers. 
• Suffolk is now 1-1 against WPI in the Anthony Del Prete era. 
• Suffolk had multiple homers in a contest for the second time this season, first since a 16-13 win over North Park, March 10, 2024. 
• The four homers in a single outing are the most for the blue-and-gold since barreling four in an 8-6 win over Curry March 31, 2016. 
• Sorenti-Burns recorded his first home run as a Ram. He finished with two bombs. He is the second Ram to registered two jacks in one game this season, joining Gilbride. 
• Sorenti-Burns finished with a career-high in homers (2), total bases (8), extra base hits (2) and tied a personal-best two hits. 
• Gilbride had his third dinger of the year. 
• Roberts had three extra base hits in a single game for the second-time in his career, first since recording three in a 16-2 win at Gordon, April 5, 2021.
• Norris tallied his first collegiate bomb and first stolen base of his collegiate career. The rookie matched a personal-high in hits (1), runs scored (2) and logged a career-high in RBI (3) and walks (2). 
• Flynn finished with a personal-best in hits (3) and runs scored (3). 
• Eric Paradis played the field for the first time in his collegiate career. 
• Max Martin tied a career-high in hits (2) and runs (2) and set a personal-best in walks (2). 
• McDevitt earned the first win of his collegiate career. He pitched a career-high 3.2 innings and struck out a personal-best five batters. 
• Desmond registered the first save of his collegiate career.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk begins its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Friday, March 22 when it makes the trip to Nichols for a twinbill. Game one is set to start at 1:00 p.m.