Rives, Mondro and Larson Lead Baseball to Friday Florida Sweep

Auburndale, FL --- Starting pitchers Doug Rives (Bethany, CT) and Alexander Mondro (Westford, MA) combined to allow just five hits and one earned run and David Larson (Port Tobacco, MD) smashed a three-run homer in the first inning of game one as WPI swept its second straight doubleheader, besting Martin Luther (MN) 10-0 and 7-2 on its spring break trip at Lake Myrtle Park.

The Engineers are now 7-1 on the season while the games were the first two contests this season for the Knights.

Larson put WPI ahead 3-0 in the opener just four batters into the bottom of the first on a blast to left field.  The Crimson and Gray added to their advantage in the fourth thanks to a Matt Howard (Worcester, MA) sacrifice fly, and broke the game with multi-run uprisings in the fifth and sixth frames.  Martin McCormack's (Quincy, MA) run-producing single and a Steven Gallagher (Coventry, RI) sacrifice fly highlighted a four-run fifth while Austin Lindner's (Princeton Jct., NJ) RBI ground out and a Ryan Tropeano (Pembroke, MA) run-scoring triple capped the scoring in the fifth.

Rives went the first five on the mound to improve to 2-0 on the young season.  The senior righthander scattered just two hits, walked one fanned six in his five innings of work.  Jeremy Rhines (Plainville, MA) and Ryan Malkowski (Hubbardston, MA) completed the shutout with scoreless sixth and seventh innings in their collegiate debuts with Malkowski striking out the side in the seventh. 

Tropeano, Larson and McCormack all had two hits for the Boynton Hillers. Tyrone Patterson (Upper Marlboro, MD) joined Tropeano and McCormack in denting the scoring column twice.

In game two, Tropeano helped the Engineers scored five times by belting a 3-run triple in the top of the second.  Patterson added a run-scoring single and Howard capped the rally with a RBI fielder's choice.   After the Knights scored twice in the bottom of the frame, WPI got insurance runs in the fourth inning when Tropeano alertly darted home on a throw to first and in the seventh on an RBI single by Michael Fraser (Mashpee, MA).

Mondro also moved to 2-0 after going the first four innings, yielding three hits and one walk while striking out two.  Kyle Wood (Hauppauge, NY) threw a pair of perfect innings of relief and Rob Chase (Grand Isle, VT) worked a scoreless seventh.

Tropeano finished a homer short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.  Larson had a strange nightcap, walking all four of his plate appearances.