CRANSTON — The Cranston West baseball team moved into a tie with Hendricken for the Division I-West lead with a 4-3 victory over the Hawks yesterday.

A two-out, bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh to Dan Hopkins forced home the winning run for West after Hendricken had tied the score in the top of the seventh with the help of a two-out hit-batsman with the bases loaded.

The victory gave the two-time defending state champion Falcons a split of their two-game regular season series with Hendricken and evened the teams at the top of the I-West standings with 12-2 records.

Anthony Meo, the Falcons senior All-State pitcher who has never lost an Interscholastic League game, earned the victory. He gave up only two hits.

The anticipated pitching duel between Meo and Hendricken senior Andrew Ferreira lived up to its billing as an unearned run by Cranston West in the fourth inning was the game’s only tally for the first five innings.

Hendricken took a 2-1 lead in the sixth when Meo gave up his only two hits of the game, walked a batter and delivered a bases-loaded walk.

Cranston West came back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run single by Brian LaBianca off Hawks reliever Rob Curran. Curran had come on in relief of Ferreira after an infield error and two walks had put three Cranston West runners on base with no outs. Those two runs were all Curran gave up.

In the top of the seventh the Hawks tied the score when Meo issued two walks and hit two batters.

An infield error leading off the bottom of the seventh gave Cranston West its first base-runner of the inning and the Falcons almost won the game when Shane O’Connell singled to left with runners on first and second. But Hendricken right fielder Tom Verdi fired a strike to get the potential winning run.

With first base open Hendicken then intentionally walked Chris Famiglietti to load the bases. Curran got two strikes on Hopkins, but the Falcons senior All-Stater worked the count to 3-and-2 before taking another a pitch in the dirt for the game-winning walk.

“Nothing comes easy,” said a relieved Cranston West coach Rob Malo.

jgillool@projo.com