Photos courtesy of Trey Powers

Brett Johnson

Herald Contributor

The Roger Williams University baseball team split Monday’s doubleheader with the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards.

The Hawks entered their home opener Monday hoping to improve their overall record of 5-13. The Leopards walked into their first conference matchup with a 10-3 record.

Junior pitcher Sam Bennett started game one for the Hawks.

The Leopards got ahold of Bennett in the first inning. Christian Ferri of Wentworth smacked a double into right field and Jordan Burst followed with a single into right. Ferri advanced to third and then scored on an error by freshman Hawks right fielder Justin Stone. Burst got moved to second on a single by Tyler Weninger and then to third on a groundout by Tim Elrick. Burst then scored on an attempted steal of second.

The Hawks were able to get one hit in the bottom of the first off Wentworth starter Ryan Obin. Justin Stone singled but the home team was unable to rally with two outs.

The Leopards were unable to score the rest of the game but reached base a few times. Bryan Kucharski walked in the top of the second but was erased on a double play. In the third inning, Burst reached on an error by third baseman Shane Nowak. In the next inning, freshman Hawks shortstop Danny Roth committed an error which allowed Elrick to reach base, but he was caught trying to steal second. In the fifth, Jake Smith doubled and advanced to third but was left on base after a Ferri fly out to centerfield. In the top of the sixth, Weninger would reach but get no further than second.

Wentworth’s two runs in the first inning would be enough, though. The Hawks would score one run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tyler Brett walked with one out and advanced to second on a Stone single. Ryan McDermott singled to right field which scored Brett. The Hawks almost added another run but Stone was caught in a rundown trying to score.

The final score of game one was 2-1 in favor of the Leopards. Wentworth’s Obin picked up his fourth win of the season.

Senior George Lund, who is coming off offseason elbow surgery, started game two for the Hawks. Lund pitched five innings but got the no-decision, as he was replaced by Jimmy Hamilton in the fifth inning when the game was tied. Lund kept Wentworth hitless through the three innings. Lund gave up a solo home run in the fourth inning to Weninger, but only allowed one more hit to Steve Hall before coming out of the game.

In the bottom of the first, sophomore leadoff Chris Bosco reached on a throwing error by the catcher but was stranded on first. In the second inning, sophomore center fielder Eli Camner hit a solo homer with one out to give the Hawks the 1-0 lead.

The Leopards tied it up in the fourth on the Weninger home run. Hamilton entered in the top of the sixth and got three quick outs. In the seventh, he gave up a single to Weninger, whom ended up finishing the day 4-for-6. Temte successfully put down a sacrifice bunt to move his teammate over to second base. Owen Swanson hit a single down the left field line, advancing Weninger to third. Weninger was caught stealing and Elrick grounded out to third base to end the inning.

The Hawks came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh with a tied game. Stone flied out to left field and senior Bryan Terzian struck out swinging. With two outs, Roth walked. Camner hit a walk-off double to right center and drove in Roth.

The Hawks took the second game 2-1 and Hamilton received the win.

“We lost a tough one in game one,” Hamilton said. “George [Lund] did his job as he always does. We are happy to have him back. We were fortunate that Danny [Roth] had a good at-bat and got on base. Eli [Camner] came up big for us and we walked off.”