DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Backed by a solid eight innings pitched from senior hurler
AJ Rourke, the UMass Dartmouth baseball team posted a 7-1 victory over Rhode Island College in Little East Conference action on Tuesday. The Corsairs move to 14-16 overall with a 6-2 mark in the LEC.
The visiting Anchormen opened the game's scoring in the top of the fourth as a sacrifice fly by Daniel Cascio to right field brought in Parker Camelo for the 1-0 advantage. In the bottom of the fifth, rookie second baseman
Jayden Cruz singled through the left side, driving in a pair of runs to take the 2-1 advantage.
In the next at-bat, junior captain and shortstop
Cooper Wixon singled to left to bring home Cruz, making it a 3-1 contest. In the bottom of the sixth, a double down the left field line from senior first baseman
Jake San Antonio brought another two runs across the plate for a 5-1 lead.
The bottom of the seventh saw senior captain and centerfielder
Brett Baker belt a double to left field to bring in Cruz, followed by a single to third from sophomore designated hitter
Luc Nivaud, driving in Baker for the 7-1 score.
Rourke continued his outstanding play in the next inning, allowing just one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and only one walk through 8.0 innings. Senior captain
Aidan O'Donnell came on in relief in the final inning, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts.
At the plate, Nivaud went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Cruz was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, while Baker was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Thursday, welcoming Babson College for a 3:30pm non-conference tilt against the Beavers.
