Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Sophomore Tucker Hetherman's (Webster, Mass.) RBI single in the top of the sixth plated the go-ahead run to lead UMass Dartmouth to a 6-3 non-league college baseball victory over Western New England Thursday afternoon at Trelease Park.
The visiting Corsairs (12-15) started things off with a bang in their opening at-bat, as juniors JR DiSarcina (Barnstable, Mass.) and Mike Knell (Dennis, Mass.) belted solo homers to give UMass Dartmouth the early advantage. DiSarcina extended that edge to 3-0 in the third when he scored on a wild pitch, but the host Golden Bears (18-10) evened matters with a three-run uprising in the bottom of the fifth on an error and a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Brian Valeriano (Stratford, Conn.).
Knell led off the sixth by drawing a walk and stealing second before scoring the go-ahead on a single through the right side by Hetherman, who extended the Corsairs' edge by stealing second and scoring on senior Jack Harrington's (Barnstable, Mass.) RBI single down the right field line. Hetherman closed out the scoring in the top of the ninth by driving in his second run of the contest on a fielder's choice, and junior Nate Tellier (Attleboro, Mass.) worked around a ninth inning walk and struck out four of the seven batters he faced over the final two innings to pick up his fourth save of the spring.
DiSarcina, Knell and Harrington each had two hits as part of an eight hit attack in the triumph for UMass Dartmouth, as freshman Jon Levy (Norton, Mass.) earned his first collegiate victory after striking out two in 2/3 of an inning. Freshman Chase Stafford (Somerset, Mass.) scattered two hits and fanned a pair over the first four frames for the Corsairs, which also received a pair of strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of work from senior All-America Matt Cronin (Framingham, Mass.).
Sophomore Joe Webber (Marshfield, Mass.) rapped out two of Western New England's three hits on the day, as sophomore Kevin Hummer (Shrewsbury, Mass.) allowed five runs and struck out six over 5 2/3 innings of work to suffer his first setback in four decisions on the season for the Golden Bears.
UMass Dartmouth travels to Providence, R.I. on Friday morning to take on Johnson & Wales in a non-league outing beginning at 11:30 am, while Western New England heads to Milton, Mass. on Saturday morning to square off with Curry in a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader that begins at 11:00 am.
