Worcester, MA --- Mark Dignum's (Albany, NY) two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave WPI a dramatic 6-5 victory over visiting Suffolk to win game two and clinch the ECAC Division III New England Baseball Championship series.  Earlier in the day, WPI had taken the first game of the best of three set 2-1 behind a complete game pitching performance from Coner Fahey (Cumberland, RI).  Dignum and Fahey shared Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. 

WPI entered the ninth inning of the nightcap trailing 5-4 before Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA) and Mike Swanton (Foxboro, MA) were both hit by pitches to start the inning.  After a fielder's choice out on an attempted sacrifice bunt, Ethan Brown (Lunenburg, MA) single to left field to load the bases.  That set the stage for Dignum's heroics.  On a 1-2 pitch, he laced a base hit down the left field line that plated Swanton and pinch runner Brian Connor (Leominster, MA) and clinched the first postseason championship in the 103-year history of WPI baseball.  

Suffolk jumped out to a 4-1 lead in game two by tallying a pair of run-producing singles from Tom Kelly (Milton, MA) and Nick Exarhopoulos (Hudson, MA) in the first inning and a Greg DiMarco (Newton, MA) RBI single and an Exarhopoulos sacrifice fly in the third.  The Engineers chipped away in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run single off the bat of Paul Galliagan (Weymouth, MA).

Galligan collected three hits in the nightcap for the Engineers while Matt Fiore (Wakefield, MA), Ryan Rainone (Oakdale, CT), Brown and Dignum each registered a pair of hits.  Freshman Alex Hanson (Burlington, MA) improved to 4-2 by working a perfect eighth inning in relief of Brian Duncan (West Suffield, CT).

Pitching was the name of the game in the opener as Fahey was victorious in a pitcher's dual versus Suffolk's Steve Durant (Malden, MA).  The sophomore scattered five hits and fanned six while only allowing a first inning run.  Fahey improved to 6-3 on the season while posting his 11th career victory. 

Durant was equally impressive, yielding just six hits and a pair of runs in 7 1/3 innings of work.  Staked to 1-0 lead following an Exarhopoulos RBI single in the first, he kept the Crimson and Gray off the scoreboard for the first six innings.  WPI finally tied the game in the top of the seventh on a Scott MacDonald (Gorham, ME) RBI single to the left side.  The Engineers then pushed across the game-winning run an inning later when Rainone scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.

The Engineers, who did not commit an error in either game, end the season with a program-best 24-16 record.  They won their final seven games and 11 of 12 to close the season.  The Crimson and Gray went 20-8 after returning home from a 4-8 trip to Florida over Spring Break.  Suffolk completed its season with a 23-17 mark.