CASTLETON, Vt. – Powered by a run in the top of the seventh, UMass Boston posted a 1-0 victory over UMass Dartmouth in game five of the 2026 Little East Conference Tournament on Friday at Spartan Field. The sixth-seeded Beacons move to 27-11 overall, while the second-seeded Corsairs are now 25-11 on the season.
UMass Dartmouth will now face fourth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State at 4pm today in an elimination game. The winner of game six will move on to play at 10am on Saturday against fifth-seeded Rhode Island College – who posted an upset victory over top-seeded VTSU Castleton in Friday's opening game.
It was a definitive pitcher's duel in game five as Corsairs' rookie
Brielle Kenney and Beacons' hurler Lauren Meade battled toe-to-toe through six innings. The Corsairs had a solid opportunity in the bottom of the third as senior center fielder
Sydney Menz singled to lead off. With an out on the board, senior third baseman
RaeLynn Perregaux singled to left and a ground out by junior left fielder
Olivia Ali moved the runners to second and third. Junior catcher
Olivia Silva fouled out to end the threat and keep it scoreless.
The Corsairs had another solid chance in the bottom of the fourth as senior
Lena Tsonis singled to left. Senior second baseman
Emma Talpey followed with a two-out single, but Meade got Menz to pop up for the final out of the frame.
In the top of the seventh, the visiting Beacons got things going as Mary Matthews was walked to lead off, followed by Izzy Levasseur reaching on an error for runners on first and third. The Beacons – with runners on second and third – got a sacrifice fly from Avery Weinstein as Matthews crossed the plate for the first run of the game and a 1-0 lead.
Into the bottom of the seventh, Meade continued to deliver, forcing Talpey to fly out to open the frame. Menz walked, but a strikeout to designated player
Nina O'Neil saw the Corsairs facing their final out of the game. Perregaux stepped up to the plate, but fouled out to the first baseman to end the game.
Six different players recorded hits for the Corsairs, while in the circle, rookie
Brielle Kenney shouldered the loss as she moved to 10-3 on the season after allowing one run on two hits over 6.2 innings. She struck out four batters before giving way to sophomore
Edy Crawford, who allowed no runs or hits in 0.1 innings of work.