Bryant Hits Two Homers in Split Against WestConn

DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Junior Andrew Bryant hit a home run in each game as the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth baseball team split its Friday doubleheader with WestConn, dropping game one 19-10 and winning the second, 10-2.
 
The Corsairs (12-18, 3-7 LEC) move to fifth in the Little East Conference standings, while the Wolves (6-13, 2-8 LEC) fall to seventh and have work to do to make the tournament.
 
GAME ONE
WestConn, who was playing as the home team in both games, scored eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to run away with a 19-10 victory.

Bryant finished a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI, four runs scored, and two walks. Senior Chase Stafford, junior DJ Perron, and sophomore Andrew Possi each had two hits. Perron added two RBI.

UMass Dartmouth jumped ahead to a 4-0 lead in the first. Freshman Devyn Vezina and Stafford each singled and Bryant kept it going with a base knock to bring in Vezina. Possi later drove in Bryant, and Stafford scored on an error on the same play. The fourth run of the inning came when sophomore Matt Tempone hit a sacrifice fly to score classmate Jared Neikam, who walked earlier in the inning.

WestConn cut its deficit in half on a single and a double to make it a 4-2 game after the first.

After Vezina walked and stole second, Stafford singled him to third and Vezina scored on a wild pitch. Bryant then crushed his first home run of the day to center to extend the lead to 7-2.

WestConn made it a one-run game in the third when a run scored on an error, a batter was hit with the bases loaded, and a base hit to make it 7-6. Perron doubled home Bryant to left center to make it an 8-6 game in the fourth.

The Wolves tied the game in the fifth with two runs, and took an 11-8 lead in the sixth with an RBI single and a two-RBI double.

Perron and Neikam hit consecutive singles in the top of the eighth to make it an 11-10 game.

The bottom of the eighth was when WestConn put it away. A leadoff home run sparked an eight-run inning as the Wolves ran away with it.

GAME TWO
Eight runs over the first five innings led to UMass Dartmouth taking game two, 10-2.

Sophomore Matthew Klett went 3-for-4 with two RBI, two runs scored, and a walk, while Vezina finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Bryant and freshman Scott Cromack each tallied two hits.

Junior Ryan Qualey secured the win on the mound, limiting the Wolves to one earned on six hits with three strikeouts. Freshman Adam Maher struck out the side in each of his two innings of work for six K's, while graduate student Logan Maitland hurled another scoreless inning.

Vezina led the game off with a double and Stafford singled him home to quickly make it a 1-0 advantage. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Stafford hit a ground ball to second to allow Klett to score and make it 2-0 Corsairs.

After Neikam, Cromack, and Klett all got hits to load the bases in the fifth, Pariseau brought home a run with an RBI groundout to score Neikam. Vezina then doubled home Cromack, and Klett to pushed the lead to 5-0.

A Cromack single and a Klett double made it an 8-0 lead in the sixth. WestConn was able to get on the board in the home half of the sixth on a single and an error to bring it to an 8-2 game.

Klett singled home Perron in the eighth, and Cromack scored on an error, extending the lead to 10-2 in the eighth. Bryant's second home run of the day and eighth of the year made it a12-2 lead in the ninth. Senior Kyle Denis tacked on the final run of the game to finish the day.

UP NEXT
UMass Dartmouth is on the road at New England College for a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday at 12 and 2:30 p.m.