PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Powered by phenomenal showing on the mound from grad student
Anthony Keefe, along with a hot night from the plate for the Corsairs, the UMass Dartmouth baseball team took a big 17-6 win over Rhode Island College on Tuesday afternoon. The Corsairs move to 20-15-1 overall and 12-2 in conference play, while the Anchormen are now 15-16 overall and 5-9 against Little East opponents.
UMass Dartmouth got the bats going early, driving in four runs in the top of the first inning. The spree of runs featured an RBI single from senior third baseman
Andrew Possi, followed by a two-run homerun from junior first baseman
Jake SanAntonio.
With RIC still scoreless, the Corsairs compounded onto their lead with a seven-run fourth inning to go up 11-0. With the bases loaded and no outs, junior second baseman
Devyn Vezina a two-RBI single to left center field. He was followed by a two-RBI double off the bat of grad student DH
Joe Muzio. The runs continued to come in on a sac-fly from junior outfielder
Chris Kustigian, followed by an RBI-triple from senior catcher
T.J. Keefe, who then scored on a wild pitch.
Anthony Keefe pitched an outstanding 5.0 innings, allowing no runs on just two hits with three strikeouts. Keefe (4-3) picked up his fourth win of the season. RIC sophomore pitcher Devyn Glenn shouldered the loss. He allowed four runs on four hits in 1.0 inning of work.
UMD added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to go up 13-0 before the Anchormen finally got on the board. RIC drove in three runs in the sixth and then another two in the seventh to avoid an early stop to the game due to the 10-run rule through seven innings. Ultimately, Rhode Island College was unable to overcome the large deficit, as UMass Dartmouth poured in four more runs in the late innings and went on to take the 17-6 victory.
From the plate, the Corsairs were led by Possi, who went 4-for-7 with three RBI's and a run. SanAntonio went 2-for-4 with four RBI's and two runs scored. Vezina was 3-for-6 withtwo RBI's and scored three runs. All nine batters in the lineup recorded hits for the Corsairs, with six different batters recording multiple hits.
The Owls saw seven different batters record hits in game two, led by sophomore infielder Alec Varano, who went 2-for-2 with two RBI's. Junior outfielder Shea Zina went 1-for-2 with two RBI's and two runs scored, while sophomore infielder Otis Follet went 1-for-3 with two RBI's and two runs scored.
UMass Dartmouth Baseball returns to action on Thursday, traveling to Wheaton College for a matchup with the Lyons. First pitch is set for 3:30PM in Norton, Mass.
