By Bill Hanefeld Jr., sports information director
March 6, 2006
FORT MYERS, Fl. - The Bluffton University baseball team (0-1) fell, 18-11, to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the first game of the season at the Gene Cusic Classic on Sunday, March 5, 2006.
Worcester took advantage of three free passes in the first two innings and left no runners on base as it opened a 10-run lead following the second inning thanks in part to a pair of Billy Flaherty home runs. Flaherty, who walked in each of his next four trips to plate, finished the game with six runs batted in.
The Beavers got on the scoreboard in the third when Greg Sigg (Maumee/Maumee) drove a Paul Regaglia offering into right center, bringing in Tony Moore (Elida/Elida) and moving Tony Gerig (West Unity/Hilltop) to third. Gerig scored when Kyle White (Berne, Ind./South Adams) grounded out to the shortstop.
Two Bluffton errors during the fourth inning allowed WPI to tack on three more runs giving Worcester all it would need as it led 13-3 after four innings.
The Beavers opened the fifth inning with four consecutive singles in putting four runs on the board to trim the WPI lead to six runs (13-7) before Worcester answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
Lowell Wyse (Camden, Mich/Hesston J.C.) and Moore both knocked in runs during the sixth inning as the Beavers scored three more to cut the deficit to five runs.
Worcester plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to ice the game.
Austin Gray (Lewisburg/Tri-County North) slammed a solo home run off Brendan Devereaux in his first collegiate plate appearance in the ninth inning.
The Beavers finished the game 13-of-43 at the plate but they left 11 runners on base during the contest. Sigg and Jimmy McMonagle (Ida, Mich/Ida) both rapped doubles for Bluffton while Tony Moore picked up his first steal of the year.
Sophomore Tim Kay (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity) took the loss for the Beavers as he gave up 10 earned runs in only 1.2 innings of work. Regaglia picked up the win for WPI giving up 10 runs on 12 hits in six innings on the mound. Craig Shevlin and Devereaux shut the Beavers down during the final three innings, allowing only the Gray home run, as WPI picked up the 18-11 victory.
The Beavers return to action on Monday, March 6, 2006 when they face Olivet in a doubleheader which starts at 4 p.m.
-BEAVERS-