UMASS BOSTON BASEBALL SPLITS WITH UMASS DARTMOUTH, 6-10, 8-4

BABSON PARK, MA – The University of Massachusetts Boston baseball team dropped the first game of a Little East Conference twinbill with University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 10-6, but won the nightcap, 8-4, to earn a split in a double-header that was played at Govoni Field in Babson Park, MA.  The Beacons now stand at 11-9 overall and 1-3 in the LEC, while the Corsairs record is now 12-8 and 3-1.

Adam Diorio, who came into the first game as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, launched a grand slam home run in the top of the 12^th inning to eventually give UMass Dartmouth a 10-6 win. 

Freshman right-hander Evan Tardugno (Methuen, MA) was cruising in the ninth inning, owning a 4-2 led when he was lifted with runners on second and third and one out.  Freshman Pat Donovan (Lowell, MA) came into the game and promptly got a comebacker for the second out, but Chris Waymon smacked a two-out, two-strike double to bring home the tying runs.  Donovan got the next out and it was on to extra frames after UMass Boston failed to score in the bottom of the inning, despite loading the bases with one out.  The Corsairs took their first lead of the game when pinch-hitter, Richard Whitney doubled in the top of the 10^th to bring home Geoff Nettleton, who had led off with a single.  Diorio followed by plating Whitney with a single to give UMD a 6-4 lead.  The Beacons answered in the bottom of the inning when pinch-hitter Jeran Mondalto (Amesbury, MA) came through with a two-out double to put senior second baseman Jon Tekela (Thornhill, ONT) (reached on fielder’s choice) on third to set up a two-run single to left field by senior center fielder Mike McGonagle (Boston, MA) to knot the game at 6-6.  UMass Boston struck first when McGonagle laced a two-out single in the third inning and junior catcher Troy Larocque (Hudson, NH) brought him around to score with a double to give UMB a 1-0 lead.  The Beacons tacked on another two-out run when junior first baseman Chris King (Andover, MA) singled and scored on double by freshman David Waters (Millis, MA).  UMass Boston added two more runs in the fifth to take a 4-0 advantage. 

Eric Griswold picked up the win for UMD, pitching two innings of one-hit ball in relief, while walking two and striking out one.  Senior Jeff Mogan (Ledyard, CT) took the loss for UMB, allowing four runs on two hits and two intentional walks in an inning of work.  Tardugno went eight and a third innings for the Beacons and allowed four earned runs on eight hits and one walk, while fanning six.  UMass Dartmouth starter, Will Mahoney, gave up four runs (two earned) on nine hits and four bases on balls, while setting down six batters on strikes.

Junior shortstop Darwin Gonzalez (Lawrence, MA) led off the bottom of the eighth inning, in game two, with a home run to right center to give UMass Boston a 5-4 lead.  McGonagle followed with a single and later came home on a Donovan double to make it 6-4.  Stish kept the rally alive with an RBI single to score Donovan and then later scored himself when sophomore third baseman Mike Yagmin (New Britain, CT) doubled to give the Beacons an 8-4 lead they would not relinquish.  The Corsairs broke a scoreless tie when Diorio blasted his second home run of the day to lead off the fourth inning and give UMD a 1-0 lead.  UMass Dartmouth added two more runs in the fifth when Macone singled and Nettleton drew a walk and later found themselves on second and third base when Doug Hittinger doubled to score both runners for a 3-0 UMD lead.  UMass Boston pulled even in the bottom of the fifth when King doubled to score Stish and then walked home on a Waters’ homer to right center field to deadlock the contest at 3-3.  UMass Dartmouth wasted no time in answering as Jim Peters drew a lead-off walk in the sixth and later scored on a squeeze bunt by Robert Del Duca to give UMD a 4-3 edge.  The Beacons answered the bell right away, in the bottom of the inning, as Mondalto grounded to deep short to enable Gonzalez to score the tying run.

Donovan went the distance to pick up the win for UMB, allowing four earned runs on six hits and three walks in nine innings, while striking out eight to improve to 4-1.  Dan DeCosta suffered the loss for the Corsairs, giving up six runs (two earned) on six hits, while striking out a batter and hitting a batter in seven and a third innings of work.  McGonagle led UMass Boston on the day, going 7-10 with two RBI, three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases, while Diorio finished by going 3-7 with two homers and six RBI for UMD.

The Beacons will be in action again when they travel to Framingham, MA on Tuesday, April 13 to take on Framingham State College at 3:00 p.m.

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