WINTERHAVEN, Fla. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Baseball team topped Fitchburg State, 15-11, Friday afternoon at the Chain O' Lakes Stadium as the Corsairs played their first game of nine in the Sunshine State.
UMass Dartmouth stays undefeated in the early going with a 3-0 record, while Fitchburg drops to 0-1 after their first game of the season.
The scoring began in the top of the third inning as Fitchburg's senior Vincent Eramo singled, moved to second and third on a passed ball, before crossing the plate on a base knock off the bat of junior Zachary Malek for the 1-0 edge.
The Falcons doubled their margin in the following frame when graduate student Jackson Vail drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt, and eventually scored following a fielding miscue to make the score 2-0.
UMass Dartmouth cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom half of the fourth as junior DJ Perron launched his first home run of the season over the left field fence. The Falcons wasted little time getting the run back, graduate student Connor Morehouse reached on a fielder's choice and came around to score on a double from newcomer Liam Goldstein to push the lead to 3-1.
The Corsairs knotted the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore Matthew Klett was hit by a pitch and classmate Andrew Possi eached reached base on a fielding miscue before junior Andrew Bryant brought in Keltt with a sacrifice fly and Possi scored off an error.
UMass Dartmouth broke the 3-3 stalemate in the bottom of the sixth, plating five runs on four hits as Klett laced a two-run single to left center, while freshman Devyn Vezina, Bryant and Perron added RBI's for the 8-3 advantage.
Trailing 10-3 going into the top of the eighth, Fitchburg State battled back to take an 11-10 edge, scoring eight runs on four hits with senior Zachary Morris ripping a two run single up the middle, while Eramo, Morehouse and Vail adding RBI's in the frame.
The back and forth contest continued with the Corsairs rallying for five runs in the bottom half of the stanza to secure victory. Sophomore Jared Neikam started the rally for UMass Dartmouth with an RBI double, while sophomore Matt Tempone and Possi followed with a pair of two-run knocks, resulting in the 15-11 final.
Perron finished 2-of-4 with a home run, triple, two runs scored and two RBI. Senior Mike Solitto collected the win for UMass Dartmouth, yielding one unearned run on one hit with one K in 1.1 innings of relief
UMass Dartmouth plays a doubleheader against Husson beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Sanford Stadium in Sanford, Fla.
Recap courtesy of Fitchburg State Athletics.
