DAVENPORT, Fla. – The UMass Dartmouth baseball team battled back against University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Friday, opening action at the RussMatt Tournament with a doubleheader split against the Bluejays. The Corsairs won game two by a 3-2 margin, falling in game one, 3-2 – improving to 3-7 on the season.
Game two action saw the Corsairs trail by a 2-1 margin heading into the top of the sixth, UMass Dartmouth led the inning off with a single through the left side by sophomore shortstop
Cooper Wixon. He went on to advance to second on a throwing error, but was out at third on the attempted steal. A walk to senior centerfielder
Brett Baker followed and after a pitching change, grad student first baseman
Spencer Aubin was walked as well.
With two outs on the board, senior third baseman
Jake San Antonio doubled to left, tying the game as Baker scored. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and sophomore catcher
Luc Nivaud was also walked to load the bases. The Corsairs then saw rookie designated hitter
Tommy Caporaso draw a walk to bring in the go-ahead run and the 3-2 lead.
Needing just three outs to secure the win, UMass Dartmouth got solid pitching from junior lefty
Alex Tawa in the bottom of the seventh as he got the Bluejays to ground out and fly out twice to secure the victory.
Aubin was 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI, while San Antonio was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Junior hurler
Leo Colena went 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts, while classmate
Aiden Newhall went 1.1 innings with a strikeout to earn the victory. Tawa pitched the final inning and did not surrender a hit or run to pick up the save.
Game one was a scoreless affair until the top of the eighth as the Bluejays finally solved the pitching dominance of senior righty
AJ Rourke. An opening walk then saw a sacrifice bunt by Joseph Fritz to move the runner. Following an intentional walk, USJ saw Jack Kane single to left to bring home the runner from second.
Another single through the left side saw the Corsairs go to the bullpen as senior
Aidan O'Donnell was brought on in relief of Rourke. The visitors got a two-run double down the right field line by Sam Balducci to open up a 3-0 advantage for the University of Saint Joseph.
The Corsairs got the second out, catching the runner from first trying to come home and O'Donnell got Chase Belisle to fly out to end the inning. UMass Dartmouth rebounded in the latter half of the frame as a single to second by junior catcher
Ryan Jones got things going.
Rookie second baseman
Jayden Cruz then reached on a fielder's choice that saw freshman
Conner McNamara – who pinch ran for Jones – advance to second on a throwing error by the shortstop. With two on, Wixon singled through the left side to drive in a run and cut the deficit to 3-1.
With two outs on the board, Aubin singled up the middle, closing the gap further to 3-2 as McNamara came home. Despite the momentum, the Corsairs saw senior
Chance Checca strike out swinging to end the inning and the game.
Aubin was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Wixon also had an RBI, going 1-for-4 at the plate. Rourke shouldered the loss, going 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out nine batters, walked just three and threw 114 pitches in the outing. O'Donnell went 0.2 innings, allowing one hit.
UMass Dartmouth is back in action on Saturday, taking on Coe College in doubleheader action at Chain O'Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Fla. Action kicks off at 4pm against the Koehawks with game two beginning soon after.
