GORHAM, Maine – The UMass Dartmouth baseball team battled to a 7-4 victory over Keene State College in game six of the 2026 Little East Conference Tournament on Thursday evening. With the win, the third-seeded Corsairs remain undefeated in tournament play, moving to 21-20 on the season, while the second-seeded Owls shoulder their first tourney loss and are now 24-16 overall.
The Corsairs will now face top-seeded Southern Maine on Friday at 12pm in game seven featuring the only remaining undefeated teams. Keene State will take on fifth-seeded UMass Boston at 3:30pm in an elimination game.
The Owls got things going in the bottom of the first as second baseman Trevor Snow singled through the left side, advancing to second on a throwing error. With one out on the board, first baseman Jonathan Chatfield grounded out as Snow came around to score for the 1-0 lead.
UMass Dartmouth countered in the top of the second as sophomore catcher
Luc Nivaud led off with a double to right field. Rookie right fielder
Sam Bradford then doubled down the right field line to tie the game and a single from junior third baseman
Nick Bartalini brought in Bradford for the 2-1 advantage.
With two outs on the board, junior shortstop and captain
Cooper Wixon reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, but Owls pitcher Jake Jachym was able to get senior centerfielder and captain
Brett Baker to ground out to short to end the frame.
In the top of the third, the Corsairs kept the momentum going, finding themselves with bases loaded and only one out on the board as hits from graduate student designated hitter
Spencer Aubin, Bradford and senior first baseman
Jake San Antonio all notched hits. A single through the left side by Bartalini saw two runners come in to move the margin to 4-1.
The Corsairs moved the score to a four-run lead soon after as rookie second baseman
Jayden Cruz reached on an error, allowing San Antonio to come home for the 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the frame, the Owls countered as Chatfield doubled to right center to bring Snow across. Otis Follet – the shortstop – then reached on an error as Chatfield came in to score to close the gap to 5-3.
In the top of the sixth, the Corsairs struck back as back-to-back singles from Cruz and Wixon saw runners on second and third with one out. Baker stepped up to the plate, cracking a long ball to center field that saw the bases clear as he posted a triple on the play to make it a 7-3 game.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the ninth as the Owls threatened from the leadoff batter. Follet singled up the middle, advancing to second on an error before pinch hitter Mitchell Coffey sent another shot up the middle to put runners at the corners with no outs on the board.
Keene pushed a run across as catcher Evan Cali reached on a fielder's choice, allowing a run to come in for the 7-4 score. With one out on the board – after cutting down Coffey heading to second – junior hurler
Dillon Harding got Domminic Tagliaferro to fly out to right field for the second out of the frame.
The Corsairs held strong as Evan McCue grounded out straight back to Harding who made the play to seal the victory and move to 2-0 in tournament play.
Bartalini went 3-for4 on the evening, recording three runs batted in as Baker went 2-for-5 with two RBI's, posting a double and a triple. Bradford was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and San Antonio posted a hit with a run batted in.
On the mound, rookie starter
Jackson Hayes went 4.2 innings pitched, allowing three runs (2 earned) on five hits. He struck out one batter. Senior
Seamus Marshall pitched 2.2 innings, earning the victory with no runs allowed on two hits with four strikeouts. Harding pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits with a strikeout.
