MANSFIELD, Conn. -Â The fifth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth baseball team took a 6-2 lead after five innings, but No. 2 Rhode Island College completed the comeback to win 8-6 to start the Little East Conference (LEC) Tournament on Wednesday at Eastern Connecticut.
Seniors
Zak Souza and
Chase Stafford each finished with two hits for the Corsairs (15-22-1), while freshman
Chase Pariseau led the team with two RBI. The Anchormen (29-8-1) put up five runs in the sixth inning and added one more in the eighth, holding UMass Dartmouth scoreless in the final four innings to grab the win.
After the Corsairs stranded the bases loaded in the top of the first, Rhode Island College took the first lead in the home half. The Anchormen loaded the bases themselves and used an RBI single and a double steal to jump ahead to a 2-0 advantage.
Freshman
Adam Maher earned his first-career starting nod on the mound and kept Rhode Island College off the board until the sixth with four strikeouts. During that time, the Corsairs went for two runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to take a 6-2 lead.
With two outs in the third, juniors
Andrew Bryant and
DJ Perron both reached and advanced to scoring position. Bryant scored on a wild pitch, while Souza doubled home Perron to even the score at two.
The freshman duo of
Scott Cromack and
Devyn Vezina got it done in the third. After Cromack led the inning off with a base hit, Vezina doubled him home. Perron then sent a base hit to score Vezina and make it a 4-2 advantage.
UMass Dartmouth extended the lead to 6-2 in the fifth when Pariseau singled to center field to score both Souza and senior
Kyle Denis.
Rhode Island College retook the lead with five runs in the sixth. The Anchormen did it on a pair of singles and a Corsair error. RIC added one more in the eighth on an RBI base hit and the Anchormen pitching staff sealed the win.
UMass Dartmouth plays sixth-seeded Plymouth State in an elimination game on Thursday at noon from Mansfield, Conn.
