Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 QUINCY, MA-Senior shortstop John Granahan (Hanover, MA/Hanover HS/Southern Maine) hit a two-run, tie-breaking home run in the top of the eighth inning and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's baseball team went on to a 6-2, eight-inning win over host Eastern Nazarene in the 2012 season opener for the Corsairs at Bradley Field Tuesday. UMass Dartmouth won the opener, 2-0.
Senior second baseman Dan DeMello (Taunton, MA/Taunton HS) opened the top of the eighth inning of the nightcap with a double to right center, and Granahan followed with a two-run homer to left center, putting the Corsairs ahead for good. Freshman third baseman Ryan Medeiros (Acushnet, MA/New Bedford HS/Eckerd) and sophomore left fielder Kyle Palen (Becket, MA/Wahconah HS) contributed run-scoring singles to make it 6-2.
UMass Dartmouth had taken the lead in the top of the fourth when junior catcher Matt Worden (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford HS) doubled and scored when freshman starting pitcher Nate Farias (Fall River, MA/Durfee HS) bounced into a double play. The Lions tied it in their half of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Anthony Berroa.
Freshman right fielder Mike LaFlamme (Bedford, NH/Bedford HS/Tampa) put UMD ahead in the top of the fifth when he scored from second base after catcher Johan Villalona threw wildly attempting to pick him off. ENC tied it in the seventh on a two-out, pinch-hit single by Max Pugh.
Senior Pat Lavey (Cranston, RI/Cranston East HS), who gave up the tying run in the seventh, pitched a scoreless eighth and got the win, improving to 1-0. Brandon Wells, who went all the way for the Lions, took the loss and fell to 0-2.
Four Corsair pitchers combined for a one-hitter in the opener. Sophomore Karney Boff (Dighton, MA/Dighton-Rehoboth HS) started and pitched three hitless innings, freshman Nick Carafa (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield HS/SNHU) followed with a pair of scores frames, junior Tyler White (Westport, MA/Westport HS/Massasoit CC) blanked the Lions in the sixth and Lavey retired the side in order in the seventh.
UMD scored twice in the fourth. Medeiros and Farias led off with singles, freshman left fielder Jimmy Cranston (East Lyme, CT/East Lyme HS) singled home Medeiros, and Farias scored on a hit by sophomore center fielder Wayne Bolz (Billerica, MA/Billerica Memorial HS). Boff earned the win and improved to 1-0, Lavey earned his first save, and Berroa went the distance for ENC and took the loss, falling to 0-2.
"I was pleased with the wins," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Bob Prince. "In each game, we only gave up one walk, and our defense didn't give away extra base runners. We wanted to make the plays defensively and throw strikes, and we did that and we got some timely hits. It was a staff effort, since a lot of these guys will have to come back and pitch Saturday and Sunday in Florida."
UMass Dartmouth improved to 2-0 with the sweep, while Eastern Nazarene dropped to 1-9 with the losses. The Corsairs will return to action when they meet Amherst in the first game of their spring trip in Winter Haven, FL Saturday.
UMASS DARTMOUTH BASEBALL
