DARTMOUTH, Mass. – In the final conference doubleheader of the 2024 regular season, with the Corsairs and Warriors battling for the top spot in the Little East, Eastern Connecticut defeated UMass Dartmouth, 8-3 in game one and 15-10 in game two. The Corsairs conclude the regular season with a 20-18-1 overall record and a 12-4 mark in conference play, while the Warriors wrap up their season at 27-11 overall and 13-3 against Little East opponents.
In game one, Eastern Connecticut jumped out to an early lead, going up 5-0 after the first two innings. UMass Dartmouth drove in a pair of runs in the fifth on a two-RBI double from senior catcher
Matt Tempone to narrow the lead to 5-2.
The Warriors separated themselves further with another three runs between the eighth and ninth innings as the Corsairs only brought in one more, as Eastern Connecticut took the first game by a score of 8-3.
Junior pitcher Matthew Wootton was credited the win on the mound for Eastern. He allowed two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. From the plate, the Warriors saw junior catcher Hank Penders go 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, including a three-run homer in the first inning. Senior left fielder Josh Cofrancesco went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Shouldering the loss on the mound for the Corsairs was senior pitcher
Ryan Qualey. Qualey allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. From the plate, UMD saw Tempone go 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Junior second baseman
Devyn Vezina went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run, while grad student right fielder
Anthony Keefe was 2-for-4.
In a high-scoring second game, it was UMass Dartmouth who jumped out to a 7-5 lead after the first three innings of action. Eastern Connecticut turned the tables with a six-run inning in the sixth, featuring back-to-back RBI triples from Penders and Cofrancesco, as the Warriors took an 11-7 lead.
Trailing by four runs in the seventh inning, the Corsairs battled back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, capitalizing on a few fielding errors on the side of ECSU. The Corsairs cut the deficit to just one run, trailing 11-10.
Eastern was able to stretch their lead with a strong at-bat in the eight inning. The Warriors drove in four more runs in the inning, featuring an RBI double from Cofrancesco once again, as well as an RBI-single from senior third baseman Tiernan Lynch that gave ECSU a 15-10 lead.
This time, UMass Dartmouth was unable to come back in the eighth or ninth innings as they have several times this season, as they finished their regular season with a 15-10 loss to Eastern Connecticut.
Earning the win on the mound for Eastern was grad student pitcher Nathan Furino, who allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work. From the plate, the Warriors were led by Cofrancesco once again, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Junior outfielder Ray Leonzi was 3-for-6 with an RBI and three runs, while Senior outfielder Jason Claiborn went 2-for-6 with three RBIs and a run.
Junior pitcher
Adam Maher shouldered the loss for the Corsairs. He allowed four runs on three hits with a strikeout in a short one-inning stay on the mound. From the plate, UMD saw senior catcher
T.J. Keefe go 2-for-4 and score twice, while senior third baseman
Andrew Possi went 2-for-5 and scored two runs.
UMass Dartmouth Baseball concludes their 2024 regular season with an overall record of 20-18-1 and a conference record of 12-4, good for the third seed going into the Little East Conference Tournament next week. The Corsairs will face the #4 seed in Southern Maine, with the date and time of the game to be determined. The LEC Tournament will be hosted by the #1 seed UMass Boston.
