DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth baseball team shouldered a pair of losses in their Little East Conference opener on Saturday, falling to the University of Southern Maine in doubleheader action. The Huskies posted wins of 15-1 (7 inn.) and 7-5 to improve to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Corsairs are now 6-13 on the season and 0-2 in the Little East.
In the opening game, the visiting Huskies opened the game's scoring in the first inning and jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning as a two-run single to center from Drew Scialdone contributed to the run.
Senior centerfielder
Brett Baker helped get the Corsairs on the board in the bottom of the third, belting a double down the right field line to bring home rookie second baseman
Jayden Cruz for a 4-1 margin.
Southern Maine continued to capitalize, posting two runs in the fourth, four in the fifth, three in sixth and two in the seventh to invoke the mercy rule after seven innings.
Cruz went 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Baker was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Sophomore catcher
Luc Nivaud was 2-for-3. On the mound, senior starter
AJ Rourke shouldered the loss, allowing 10 runs (9 earned) on nine hits over 4.1 innings. He struck out five batters. Senior
Ray Boutiette went 1.2 innings with three runs (2 earned) allowed on four hits, while sophomore
Ryan Jewell pitched 1.0 innings with two runs allowed on two hits.
Game two action saw the Huskies once again open the scoring as Peter Keblinsky singled to right field to drive in Evan Baschnagel. In the bottom of the second, the Corsairs scored four unanswered runs, kicking it off with a single through the right side by junior catcher
Ryan Jones to drive in rookie right fielder
Sam Bradford.
Junior shortstop
Cooper Wixon then singled to right field, advancing to second on the throw as Jones – who was on third – came home to score. A two-run single to left by Baker made it a 4-1 game after two innings.
Southern Maine cut the deficit to two (4-2) in the top of the fifth and a two-run single to left by Carter Higgins in the sixth made it a tie game. In the seventh, Quinn Dillon reached on a fielder's choice as a run came in on a throwing error, followed by a walk to Mike Anquillare and then a walk to Kaiden Morin to push runs across and make it a 7-4 game in favor of the Huskies.
UMass Dartmouth drove in another run in the bottom of the ninth on a ground out from Baker with two runners on, but despite the momentum, Southern Maine's Keblinsky got graduate student first baseman
Spencer Aubin to ground out to end the game and secure the save.
Wixon went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI. Jones was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a run batted in, while Baker was 1-for-3 with three runs batted in. Junior starter
Jordan Paradis went 4.1 innings with two runs allowed on two hits with six strikeouts.
Classmate
Aiden Newhall went 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on one hit, while senior
Aidan O'Donnell shouldered the loss over 0.2 innings with three runs (2 earned) on two hits with a strikeouts. Junior
Alex Tawa went 1.2 innings with two strikeouts, while senior
Seamus Marshall pitched the final inning.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Thursday when they host Suffolk University at 3pm.
