MANSFIELD, Conn. – Junior
Zak Souza (Fall River, Mass.) drove in a career-high five runs to power fourth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to a 10-1 victory over intra-state rival and fifth-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston in Game 3 of the Mansfield, Conn. bracket of the 2021 Little East Conference Baseball Championship tournament this afternoon at Eastern Baseball Stadium.
The Corsairs advance to face top-seeded and nationally-ranked Eastern Connecticut (30-4) this afternoon at 4:30pm. The Beacons completed their 2021 season with an overall record of 10-9.
Two days after UMass Boston limited UMass Dartmouth to just three hits in the conference tournament opener, the Corsairs broke out with a 12-hit attack. Souza hit a three-run homer in the sixth and added a two-run single in the seventh. Senior
Mike Knell (Dennis, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBI, while graduate student
Mitch Baker (Braintree, Mass.) gave the Corsairs a lead they would never relinquish with a two-run round-tripper to centerfield in the fourth to snap a 1-1 ball game. Senior
Erick Ramirez (Boston, Mass.) also contributed a pair of base knocks.
Senior
Ryan Bruning (Centerville, Mass.) (1-1) collected his first win of the season in his seventh start of the campaign. The right-hander from Centerville, Mass. yielded just one unearned run on two hits and a walk, while striking out five. The Corsairs are 6-1 on the season in Bruning's seven starts. Senior
Zack DelVecchio (Braintree, Mass.) and
Shane Reardon (Kinnelon, N.J.) combined to throw the final three scoreless innings of relief. Reardon retired all six Beacons he faced in order.
UMass Dartmouth cracked the scoring column in the first as senior
Erick Ramirez (Boston, Mass.) led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Classmate
Mike Knell (Dennis, Mass.) drove the first pitch he saw into the left centerfield fence to score Ramirez from second.
The Beacons answered in the bottom of the second as the hosts capitalized on an errant Corsair throw to put the lead-off batter aboard. UMass Boston followed with a double to right field to place runners on second and third and junior Thomas Cue (Shrewsbury, Mass.) lifted a sacrifice fly to right as the tying run barely beat the tag at home plate. UMass Dartmouth escaped any further damage as the visitors cut down the go-ahead run attempting to score on a suicide bunt.
The Corsairs regained their advantage in the top of the fourth when Baker launched a 408-foot, two-run homer over the centerfield fence. It was his third-round tripper of the campaign. Knell started the inning with a single into centerfield to register his eighth multi-hit game of the season.
UMass Dartmouth seized control of the contest in the sixth with Souza's line-drive homer over the left field fence. The Corsairs added a Knell opposite-field RBI single and a Souza two-run single in the seventh to extend the advantage to 9-1. UMass Dartmouth closed out the scoring in the eighth with a ground out.
UMass Boston sophomore Tim Cianciolo (New Milford, Conn.) suffered the setback, giving up six runs on seven hits over 5.2 innings.
