UMass-Dartmouth Hands Worcester State First Loss of Season
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – The UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs (1-0) dealt the Worcester State University Lancers (5-1) their first loss of the season, as the Corsairs defeated the Blue and Gold 6-1 Tuesday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex (NEBC).
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – The UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs (1-0) dealt the Worcester State University Lancers (5-1) their first loss of the season, as the Corsairs defeated the Blue and Gold 6-1 Tuesday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex (NEBC).
The Corsairs reached the scoreboard in the top of the second when three players had back-to-back shots to left-center. Mackenzie Curran (Lakeville, Mass.), Kenneth Michael (Norwood, Mass.), and Jack Harrington (Barnstable, Mass.) each reached base on the sequential doubles. Though, the next two batters were shut down in order to close out the top of the inning, leaving one man stranded on base.
The Lancers responded to the Corsairs' two-point advantage in the bottom of the inning as Jake Ryan (Northbridge, Mass.) sparked the Lancers offense with an RBI double, driving in Brian Bonacquisti (Pittsfield, Mass.) at the plate.
The scoring didn't resume until the top of the 5th when Erick Ramirez-Tejada (Boston, Mass.) crushed a lead-off triple to left field, eventually scoring on a balk to add to lead. First baseman, Taylor Cacciola (W. Greenwich, R.I.) scored an unearned run as the Lancers committed two errors in the inning, to grab the 4-1 lead.
Cacciola once again scored in the top of the 8th inning when he hit a two-run blast over the centerfield wall to ultimately give the Corsairs the 6-1 outcome.
UMass-Dartmouth's Steve Colella (Leominster, Mass.) registered the first win for the Corsairs, pitching two complete innings, allowing one earned run and striking out two batters. Sean Callahan (Colchester, Vt.) and Aaron Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) relieved Colella, pitching three innings apiece, while Matt Cronin (Framingham, Mass.) closed the game out in the ninth. Chouinard registered four strikeouts in his three innings pitched.
For the Lancers, Zach Zona (Auburn, Mass.) recorded his first loss of the season as he pitched a total of six innings and struck out two in his 25 batters faced.
The Lancers return to action on Saturday when they will take on Southern Maine in a doubleheader at NEBC, starting at 11 a.m.