BOSTON, Mass. – With a 6-4 lead after three innings, the UMass Dartmouth baseball team's big bats, led by a three-homerun game from senior
DJ Perron, scored nine unanswered runs on their way to a 15-4 win over Suffolk on Thursday. The Corsairs advance to 15-12 for the season while the Rams slip to 9-15.
The Corsairs jumped ahead early, scoring six runs in the first two innings. The scoring came by way of a three-RBI double from junior
Jared Neikam in the first, as well back-to-back homeruns from Perron and senior
Andrew Bryant to lead off the second.
After three innings, the Corsairs led 6-4 when sophomore
Devyn Vezina kicked off the top of the fourth with a triple to the right-center gap Vezina scored easily on a Perron ground rule double. Perron scored two at-bats later on a single from the bat of sophomore
Chris Kustigian. Kustigian stole second and advanced to third on a groundout, setting up junior
Andrew Possi who knocked home the run on a single to right field. The fourth inning rally was not over yet, as Possi scored from first base on a
T.J. Keefe (junior) double in the gap, extending UMD's lead to 10-4.
The Corsairs' bullpen was nearly flawless, shutting out the Rams from the fourth inning and on. The mound was held by committee, starting with junior
Will Pacheco (2-1), who earned his second win of the season. Sophomore
Nick Pappas saw two innings of action, and also spending a minute atop the mound was
Josh Malcolm (sophomore),
Chase Stafford (senior), and
Andrew Steinhubel (sophomore). Steinhubel is credited with his third save of the season.
In the later innings, UMass Dartmouth continued to pour it on. Perron hit a two-run-shot in the seventh inning, his second deep ball of the day. Perron's magnificent day continued as he hit his third homer of the game. This one was another two-run homerun that put the Corsairs up double digits at 15-4 in the eighth, and would prove to be the final runs scored in this game.
The Corsairs had one of their best days from the plate on the season. UMD saw Perron go a staggering 5-for-5 with three homeruns and a ground-rule double. He tallied up six RBI's and scored five times himself, accounting for 11 total runs of the team's 15. Bryant went 2-for-6 with a homer and a double, he also added an RBI and scored three times. Possi slapped three hits for two RBI's and scored once. Neikam was 1-for-3 with a three-RBI double.
The Rams' grad student Timothy McCarthy led the way for Suffolk with two hits and two RBI's. Senior Luke Harder also notched two hits with an RBI and scored twice. Their junior Garret Roberts scored twice on two hits. Shouldering the loss on the mound was senior Caleb Piwnicki (1-2) who went four innings and dropped his second start of the season.
UMass Dartmouth baseball returns home for the Corsairs Game of the Week on Saturday. They will host the Farmingdale State Rams in doubleheader action. Game one is scheduled for 12pm.
