DARTMOUTH, Mass. – After going into the ninth inning trailing 8-5, the Corsairs rallied for four runs, capped off by a walk-off from freshman left fielder
Nick Bartalini, to defeat UMass Boston 9-8 on Tuesday. The Corsairs remain perfect in conference play at 5-0 and are 12-12-1 overall, while the Beacons dip to 14-8 overall and 6-1 in LEC play after suffering their first conference loss.
It was UMass Boston that struck first, getting out to a 5-1 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning. Senior catcher
Matt Tempone narrowed the gap for the Corsairs in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run homer over the right field fence. Tempone's timely homerun marks his first of the season.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Beacons were able to add onto their lead, beginning with a lead-off homerun off the bat of freshman shortstop Elliot Miles. UMass Boston was able to drive in two more runs in the inning, taking an 8-4 lead with just two at-bats left for UMassD.
In the bottom of the eighth, senior Matt Klett pinch hit at the DH spot and lead off the inning with a double to right center. Tempone struck once again, driving in the runner with a single to right field. The Corsairs cut the deficit to just three runs entering the ninth. Sophomore reliever
Geordan Jackson Murphy pitched the ninth and was able to get out of the inning without allowing a run.
Trailing by three runs, UMass Dartmouth needed a rally in the bottom of the ninth, which is exactly what they did. Sophomore center fielder
Brett Baker got things going, reaching first on an infield error. Junior second baseman
Devyn Vezina followed him up with a single that advanced Baker to third. Grad student first baseman
Joe Muzio brought in the first run of the inning for UMD on a base hit to right field. Senior DH
T.J. Keefe kept it going with a single of his own, bringing in another run as the Corsairs brought it within one run with no outs and two runners on.
With runners on first and second, senior third baseman
Andrew Possi squared up and let down a perfectly placed bunt-single that loaded up the bases. With the bases loaded and one out, grad student right fielder
Anthony Keefe hit a long sac-fly to right to tie the game up at 8-8. Bartalini, the hero from their last game against Suffolk, did it once again. Bartalini drilled a hard grounder towards third base that found its way through, driving in the game-winning run, as the Corsairs crowded the freshman at first base after closing out the 9-8 victory.
UMass Dartmouth saw Tempone go 2-for-5 with three RBI's, including a two-run homer. The reigning LEC Player of the Week Vezina continued his hot stretch from the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI's and a run scored. Baker went 2-for-5 and scored three runs. Bartalini and Possi recorded two hits each, with Bartalini driving in the game-winning run in walk-off fashion. Freshman hurler
Dylan Amaral started on the mound. He allowed three runs on five hits with a strikeout. Freshman
Jacob Rosati and sophomore
Aidan O'Donnell each went 2.0 innings of relief. Rosati allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits with two strikeouts, while O'Donnell allowed three runs (one earned) on two hits and struck out four.
The Corsairs return to action on Thursday, hosting WPI at 3:30pm in Dartmouth.
