DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Powered by an offensive onslaught in game two, the UMass Dartmouth baseball team split a Little East doubleheader against Castleton University on Saturday. The Corsairs, who were 13-6 winners in game two, move to 13-12 and 4-5 in conference play. The Spartans are now 10-15 and 2-7 in the LEC after taking game one by a 5-1 margin.
In game two action, it was a hot start for the Corsairs as the home team had two on as shortstop
DJ Perron stepped up to the plate. He singled up the middle, advancing left fielder
Chris Kustigian as second baseman
Devyn Vezina scored for the 1-0 margin.
The next at-bat saw first baseman
Andrew Bryant break open the game as he sent a long home run over the right field wall for the 4-0 advantage.
UMD answered once again in the bottom of the third as designated hitter
Jared Neikam came home on a wild pitch, while right fielder
Chase Stafford singled to bring in center fielder
Scott Cromack for a 6-0 score.
Castleton got on the board in the fourth as third baseman Tyler McLain reached on a throwing error that saw first baseman Jack Boyle come around to score on the error.
Fourth inning action saw two more runs come across for the Corsairs courtesy of an RBI single to center field by third baseman
Andrew Possi, as catcher TJ Keefe followed with a single up the middle to bring in another run.
Holding an 11-1 lead after six innings, UMD saw its lead chipped away at with Castleton scoring two runs in the top of the seventh, including an RBI single from designated hitter Evan Keegan. The top of the eighth saw Kannon Dush single past third, driving in a run to make it 11-4.
The Corsairs added two runs in the bottom of the eighth of a two-run single to right center from Stafford. Top of the ninth inning, the Spartans got two runs across after a double from McLain but Corsairs hurler
Kevin Moszkowicz closed it out for the UMD victory.
Bryant paced the effort for the Corsairs, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. Neikam was also solid, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, while Stafford was 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI. On the mound, rookie
Geordan Jackson Murphy earned the win, going 4.0 innings with one run (unearned) and two hits allowed. He struck out two and walked just one.
Game one was a Spartans victory with the visitors striking quickly in the second inning as outfielder Jackson Cardozo belted a home run for the 1-0 advantage. In the third inning with two one, Keegan reached on an error as the Spartans brought another run across. Cardozo then singled, advancing on an error that allowed Castleton to score for the 3-0 lead.
The Spartans added runs in the fourth and sixth inning to make it 5-0, but the Corsairs got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as Possi singled to center field to bring home a run.
Castleton's starter Riley Orr earned the win, going 6.0 innings with a run allowed on nine hits. He struck out five batters and walked just one. For the Corsairs, hurler
Ryan Qualey shouldered the loss, allowing five runs (1 earned) on four hits over 7.0 innings. He struck out five batters and walked one.
UMass Dartmouth is back in action on Tuesday, traveling to UMass Boston for a 3:00pm LEC match up.
