Box Score PROVDIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Ryan Medeiros (Acushnet, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with two runs, a RBI, and a pair of stolen bases and starting pitcher Aaron Chouinard (Swansea, Mass.) struck out 11 batters in eight innings to lead the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth baseball team to a Little East Conference win over Rhode Island College on Tuesday afternoon at Anchorman Field, 11-3.
The Corsairs (16-10) earn the season split with the Anchormen (17-8) and move into a first-place tie with Southern Maine atop the conference standings. On the year, UMass Dartmouth improved to 7-4 in the conference circuit, while Rhode Island College dipped to 6-4.
Medeiros, who delivered a team-best four hits, powered the Corsair lineup which featured seven batters with multi-hit performances. Senior George Agostini (Rehoboth, Mass.) reached the three hit mark for the sixth game this season to go with two RBI and a run scored. Catcher Cory DeMedeiros (Fall River, Mass.) drove in a team-high three RBI with a pair of hits, including a team-leading two-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth. Seniors Alberto Vasquez (Roxbury, Mass.) and Alex Newton (Saco, Maine), and freshman Josh O'Neil (Halifax, Mass.) all added a pair of base hits in the victory.
On the mound, Chouinard produced a strong performance to capture his second win of the season. In eight innings, the south paw surrendered three runs, two of them earned, while scattering six hits.
The Anchormen were led by Brad Douglas, who turned a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Junior Dylan Pingitore went five innings, allowing six runs, three of them earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts in the loss.
The Corsairs started their run in the home half of the third when O'Neill doubled down the left field line. Following a bunt single and stolen base by Medeiros, a Agostini single up the middle drove in O'Neill from third. An error by the Anchormen allowed Medeiros to score from third to put the home team up, 2-0. Following an unearned run after another RIC miscue, senior third baseman Nate Farias (Fall River, Mass.) capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI double.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Anchormen notched two runs in the top of the fifth keyed by senior Tyler Santaniello's RBI and run scored. The Corsairs answered back in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice on a left field homer by senior DeMedeiros.
The Anchormen recorded their third run of the game in the top of the sixth when junior catcher Matt Foley drove in Douglas to cut the UMass Dartmouth lead down to three, 6-3. The Corsairs wouldn't be stopped, as they plated two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding, 8-3, advantage.
The teams wouldn't score again until the bottom of the eighth when the Corsairs pushed across three more runs, highlighted by a two-RBI single to right field by Vasquez (Roxbury, MA) to give the game its, 11-3, final.
UMass Dartmouth will return to play at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22, when the Corsairs host Roger Williams at New Bedford High School.
