DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Behind strong pitching and an offensive onslaught at the plate, the UMass Dartmouth baseball team swept a doubleheader against Western Connecticut State University on Sunday. The Corsairs posted seven inning wins of 19-1 and 16-3 over the Wolves, improving to 9-13 overall and 2-2 in Little East action.
Game one saw the Corsairs jump out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the third, backed by RBI singles from junior shortstop
Cooper Wixon, senior captain and centerfielder
Brett Baker and graduate student first baseman
Spencer Aubin, along with a wild pitch that brought in Wixon.
WestConn posted their only run of the game in the fourth inning as Peter Coniglio singled. The Wolves had a bases loaded opportunity with two outs, but senior right-hander
AJ Rourke shut down the threat with a strikeout to Bryan Birkl to head it to the fifth.
A sacrifice fly from rookie right fielder
Sam Bradford brought another run across in the top of the fifth and the Corsairs tacked on four more runs in the top of the sixth, including an RBI double by Bradford for a 9-1 lead after six.
In the seventh inning, the Corsairs bats came alive as a single from rookie left fielder
Conner McNamara led things off. He went on to steal second as rookie second baseman
Jayden Cruz belted a single to put runners on the corners. A single from Wixon brought in McNamara and a double by Baker scored both runners to open the margin to 12-1.
Sophomore catcher
Luc Nivaud was next up, cracking a two-run shot over the wall for his second home run of the season and a 14-1 advantage. Following a pitching change by the Wolves, rookie third baseman
Tommy Caporaso drew a walk, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Another walk – this time to rookie outfielder
Brock Gibbons – followed and senior
Jake San Antonio reached on an error to load the bases.
A fly out finally put an out on the board, but McNamara also drew a walk to bring in a run for the 15-1 margin. Another pitching change brought up pinch hitter
Carlos Reyes, who sent a sacrifice fly to right to bring in another run. Back-to-back doubles by Wixon and Baker pushed the score to 19-1 before the final out was recorded.
Rourke earned the victory recording three strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh to shut down the Wolves for the mercy rule win. He went 4.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts. Starter
Alex Tawa pitched 3.0 innings, allowing just one hit with four strikeouts and five walks.
Individually, Cruz was 3-for-3 with three runs scored. He recorded four of the Corsairs 12 stolen bases in the game. Wixon was 3-fo-5 with four runs scored and four RBI, while Baker was 3-for-6 with two runs scored and four RBI. McNamara was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, also notching three stolen bases.
Game two saw the Corsairs open another strong lead as UMD pushed across four runs in the top of the first . An RBI single from Baker scored Cruz, followed by a single from Nivaud to load the bases. Bradford sent a sacrifice fly to center, bringing another run across and Baker later scored on a wild pitch. San Antonio went on to single as Nivaud came home for the 4-0 advantage.
A walk to junior outfielder
Marcus Ollivierre, followed by a single from Cruz saw runners on in the top of the second. Wixon blasted a double to bring in a run and Baker followed with a ground out that saw Cruz come home to widen the gap to 6-0 for the visitors.
The homestanding Wolves got a run in the bottom of the third, but the Corsairs tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth as Bradford reached on an error and Baker came around to score. A single from junior catcher
Ryan Jones brough Bradford home to give the Corsairs an 8-1 advantage.
WestConn added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, closing the margin to 8-3, but UMass Dartmouth responded in the fifth as a single from Ollivierre scored junior
Nick Bartalini – who led off the inning with a single. Later in the frame, Cruz reached on an error, which allowed Ollivierre to come around to make it a 10-3 contest.
In the top of the sixth, the Corsairs saw another run come across as a single to left from Bartalini made it an 11-3 game. The junior went on to steal two bases to advance to third as a grounder to third by Cruz saw Bartalini come home for another UMD run (12-3).
UMass Dartmouth carried that momentum into the top of the seventh as a single from Nivaud brought in Baker from third – following his lead-off double. A double from Bradford, coupled with a single by Jones, saw Nivaud cross the plate for a 14-3 margin. Two more runs can across the inning, sending the Corsairs into the bottom of the seventh with the 16-3 advantage.
Junior
Leo Colena – who had come on in the fifth inning – struck out two of three batters in the bottom of the inning, forcing a pop-out of the other as the Corsairs picked up the victory. He allowed no runs and just one hit in relief, striking out seven batters. Starter
Jordan Paradis picked up the victory, going 4.0 innings with three runs (2 earned) allowed on four hits. He also struck out seven batters.
At the plate, Baker was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two runs batted in, while Jones was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI. San Antonio was 3-for-5 with a run scored and two runs batted in, as Wixon was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Bartalini was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Nivaud had two hits in four at-bats, two runs scored and an RBI.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action next Saturday, hosting Eastern Connecticut State University on April 4 for a Little East Conference doubleheader. First pitch is set for 12pm.
