UMass Dartmouth captures first Little East Conference championship and earns NCAA Tournament berth

(Dartmouth, MA) - The 2000 baseball season started slowly for UMass Dartmouth but by the end of the spring the Corsairs had finished with a flourish.

The Corsairs opened with a 3-7 record in California before 11 wins over the next 17 games brought Coach Bruce Wheeler's Corsairs to a respectable 13-6 heading into the final weeks of the season. Instead of building on mid-season success, however, the Corsairs ended up dropping 6 of their last 8 games to finish 16-20 overall and 8-6 in the Little East Conference. UMass Dartmouth was seeded fourth in LEC Tournament with the prospects of finishing the season with a losing record.

Starting with a 4-3 win over #5 Rhode Island College in an LEC Tournament first round game, UMass Dartmouth put together its best stretch of baseball for the entire season. The Corsairs knocked off top-seeded Southern Maine, 7-1, second-seeded Eastern Connecticut, 7-4, before coming back to score a second win over Southern Maine, 8-6, to capture the LEC championship. The fourth-seed seeded Corsairs not only earned UMass Dartmouth�s first LEC baseball championship, they also earned the tournament�s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III baseball championships.

Seeded fourth in the New York Regional with a 20-20 record, the Corsairs kept their season alive with a 7-4 win over RPI before second-seeded Ithaca College finally snapped their 5-game post season winning streak with a 3-1 decision. UMass Dartmouth eliminated SUNY Old Westbury College, 4-3, before settling for third place in the regional following a 12-0 elimination loss against Ithaca College.

Leading the offensive attack for UMass Dartmouth again this season was junior first baseman Brian Ronayne (Bridgewater, MA). A New England Division III ABCA First-Team All-Star for the second time in his three years with the Corsairs, Ronayne was UMass Dartmouth's top hitter. Leading his team in virtually every major offensive category, Ronayne also set the career home run record at UMass Dartmouth with 14 this season and 37 for his career. Pat Schultz set the previous record of 35.

Ronayne led the Corsairs in batting average (.408), slugging percentage (.783), HRs (14), RBIs (51), hits (64) total bases (123) and walks (49). His .36 HRs per game led the LEC and he was third in RBIs per game (1.25) and fourth in LEC batting average (.415). An Honorable Mention in the LEC, Ronayne earned LEC Tournament Most Outstanding Player and All-Tournament team honors.

While Ronayne was the Corsairs' offensive leader, junior right hander Jason Hinchliffe (New Bedford, MA) was UMass Dartmouth's ace on the mound. A New England Division III ABCA Second Team All Star, Hinchliffe posted a 7-3 record with a save, and was an LEC Honorable Mention selection. He appeared in 13 games, making 11 starts with 3 complete games. He walked 42 and tied for the team strikeout lead with 79 in a team-high 84.1 innings. His 9.1 strikeouts per game placed him 4th overall in the LEC.


Among Hinchliffe's season highlights was a two-hit complete game victory over Southern Maine in the LEC Tournament. Hinchliffe led the Corsair pitching staff with a 3.42 earned run average and also picked up a save in the LEC Tournament championship game against Southern Maine. Hinchliffe earned LEC Tournament Most Outstanding Pitcher and All-Tournament honors. Hinchliffe also picked up an NCAA Tournament win with a complete game victory over RPI.

In addition to Ronayne and Hinchliffe, the Corsairs received outstanding performances from several players including freshman outfielder Jason Orlando (Gloucester, MA) and senior outfielder Manny Santo (West Warwick, RI), both LEC Honorable Mention selections. Santo finished fourth in hitting for the Corsairs (.346) with 6 HRs and 29 RBI, while Orlando hit .344 with 3 HRs, 31 RBI and a team-high 19 stolen bases. Orlando also earned LEC Rookie of the Week honors on April 24 after going 9-17 in 4 games for the Corsairs.

Among the Corsairs' other top performers on offense included freshman Jeff Davenport (Hampden, MA) (.366, 2 HR, 19 RBI) and junior shortstop Guy Furtado (Dartmouth, MA) (.353, 1 HR, 17 RBI), who also led the team in runs scored (46) and was second in walks (44). Sophomore Mike Rahme (East Providence, RI) hit .284 in his first season behind the plate and was second in HRs (9) and RBIs (41).

For their efforts in leading the Corsairs to a 4-0 sweep in the LEC Tournament, UMass Dartmouth had five players on the All-Tournament team. Joining Ronayne, Hinchliffe and Santo were sophomore second baseman Mike Dougan (Marlborough, CT) (.311, 2 HR, 19 RBI) and junior designated hitter Eric Taylor (New Bedford, MA) (.303).

Taylor was also among the Corsairs' top pitchers posting a 4-3 record with a 5.93 earned run average (ERA) in 65.3 innings of work. The lefthander finished with 39 strikeouts and 21 walks in 13 appearances. Taylor picked up the Corsairs second NCAA Tournament win by going seven innings in a 4-3 win over Old Westbury.

Junior lefthander Tim Troup (Halifax, MA) posted a 4-4 record with a 3.82 era in 10 games. His 79 strikeouts tied Hinchliffe for team high in 66 innings. Freshman righthander Jason DeVincent (Natick, MA) was 3-3 with a save in the NCAA Tournament, while senior righthander Greg Zackrison (Bridgewater, MA) was 2-2 with a pair of saves in 15 games.

At the end of the season, Ronayne and Hinchliffe were invited to play in the 2000 College All-Star game sponsored by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association.