MANSFIELD, CT – The University of
Massachusetts Boston and Keene State College baseball teams
combined for 18 runs and 24 hits with fourth-seeded UMass Boston
coming out on top with a 10-8 victory in a winner's bracket
of the 2010 Little East Conference Baseball Tournament hosted by
top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University at ECSU Baseball
Stadium in Mansfield, CT. The Beacons improve to 26-15 and
advance to play Eastern Connecticut State at 7:45 p.m. tonight in
Mansfield. The win marks the first time UMB has won as many
as two games in the LEC double elimination tournament. The
Owls fall to 26-14-1 and will take on University of Southern Maine
in an elimination contest to be played at 5:10 p.m.
UMass Boston created some breathing room with a four-run fourth
after loading the bases on a walk from junior Jose Roman
Santos (Tenares, DR) and back-to-back singles from
freshman Matt Consiglio (Southbury, CT) and senior
Drew Tambling (Sterling, MA) to set up a
run-scoring single to left field from sophomore Mark
McCormack (Shelton, CT) to make it 5-3. The hit
knocked out Owls' senior starting pitcher Jeff
Raymond (Amston, CT) and junior reliever Kyle
Davis (Rochester, NH) was summoned. Junior second
baseman Ryan Walsh (Newton, MA) reached on a
ground ball to third that resulted in a run for the Beacons when
the throw home pulled the catcher off the plate. The bases
remained loaded and it looked as if Davis would minimize the damage
with a strikeout and a foul out behind the plate, but senior
Jeff Outzen (San Mateo, CA) delivered a
two-run single to center to give UMass Boston an 8-3
advantage.
Senior starting pitcher Danny Gomez (East Boston,
MA) retired 11 in a row for the Beacons, before allowing a
leadoff single in the seventh to KSC junior Tyler DiPrato
(Suffield, CT). Gomez departed with a high pitch
count and the Owls went on to load the bases with singles from
junior Bobby Doyon (Keene, NH) and senior
Keith Patnode (Keene, NH) sandwiched among two
outs. Junior Peter Burgio (Bolton, CT) came
through with a two-run double down the left field line for Keene
State's first runs since the second inning to pull it to
within 8-5. The Beacons matched the output with two runs of
their own when sophomore Ty Buccetti (Wallingford,
CT) led off with a single to left in the bottom of the
inning and advanced to third. McCormack later was
intentionally walked and Walsh drew a conventional walk to load the
bases for junior Tim Fontaine (Worcester, MA), who
placed a bloop single into short right center to plate a pair of
runs and give UMB a 10-5 lead.
The Owls continued the slugfest in the eighth when
sophomore Greg Bates (Salem, NH) led off with a
pinch single to left and later senior Jesse Cahill
(Cranston, RI) singled to center with two outs to set up a
two-run double off the wall by Doyon to pull them to within
10-7. Sophomore reliever Matt Young (Colchester,
CT) came in to face senior Anthony Cipolla
(Glastonbury, CT), who greeted him with a single through
the right side to bring home Doyon with the third run of the frame
and eighth of the game. Keene State was unable to get any
more as Beacons' junior closer Tony Damon (San Bruno,
CA) induced a pop-up to short to end the threat. The
Owls put a one-out runner in scoring position in the ninth, but
Damon fanned a pair of batters to close out the game.
Keene State manufactured a run with some help from UMass Boston
to take a 1-0 edge in the top of the first. DiPrato reached
on a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third
on a wild pitch and scored on the same play on an errant throw into
left field from the UMB catcher. The Beacons wasted no
time in responding with three runs in the bottom of the frame when
Tambling reached on a single, stole second base and scored on a
Walsh one-out hit and run single through the hole vacated by the
shortstop. Fontaine worked a walk and junior Connor
Reinfurt (Manchester, NH) followed with a single to right
center to score Walsh and give UMass Boston a 2-1 edge.
Outzen was the fourth straight Beacon to reach when he laced a
double down the right field line to score Fontaine and make it 3-1.
The Owls answered the bell in the second when sophomore
Erik Bergstrom (Enfield, CT) drew a leadoff full
count walk and jogged home on a one-out two-run home run by
sophomore Kyle Morrill (Auburn, NH) for his second
jack in as many days to tie the score at 3-3. The Beacons
kept the seesaw affair going in the bottom of the inning when
Tambling singled to left, stole second, advanced to third on a
throwing error by the Keene State backstop and scored on a
sacrifice fly to left by McCormack to reclaim the lead for UMB at
4-3.
Gomez improves to 3-1 with the win for UMB, allowing four runs
(three earned) on four hits and six walks, while striking out
five. Damon ties the season school record with his fourth
save, yielding just a walk, while fanning two batters in one and a
third innings of relief. Raymond falls to 2-4 for the Owls,
going three-plus innings, giving up eight runs (four earned) on
eight hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts.
Outzen knocked in three runs on the day with two hits for
UMass Boston, while Tambling (three), Walsh (two) and Consiglio
(two) all has multiple hits as well. Walsh's second hit
was the 70th of the season to tie his own school
standard set a year ago. Doyon and Burgio each drove in a
pair of runs for Keene State and DiPrato joined Doyon with two hits
on the day.
(Courtesy UMB Sports Information)
