MANSFIELD, CONN. – Sophomore center
fielder Mark McCormack (Shelton, Conn.) drove in a career-high
matching five runs and sophomore southpaw James Dalton (Apopka,
Fla.) won his seventh straight decision with his third shutout of
the season to lead the fourth-seeded University of Massachusetts
Boston baseball team over No. 3 seed Rhode Island College, 11-0, in
the opening round of the 2010 Little East Conference Tournament in
Mansfield, Conn.. The LEC Tournament is being hosted by top-seeded
Eastern Connecticut State University.
The Beacons improve to 25-15 and will play second-seeded Keene
State College, a 6-1 winner over No. 5 seed University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth, tomorrow in Mansfield at 1:15 p.m. The
Anchormen fall to 21-17 and will take on Eastern Connecticut State,
a 10-2 victor over sixth-seeded University of Southern Maine.
UMass Boston wasted no time in getting on the board with two runs
in the top of the first inning when senior left fielder Drew
Tambling (Sterling, Mass.) doubled inside the first base bag and
scored ahead of sophomore center fielder Mark McCormack’s
(Shelton, Mass.) fifth home run of the season and second in as many
games vs. Rhode Island College following a roundtripper on Sunday
at Anchormen Field. His homer hit the top of the right field fence
and landed on the other side for a 2-0 lead.
The Beacons added two more runs in the fifth with McCormack
providing the offense once again with his second two-run blast of
the contest over the right center field fence to score Tambling,
who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
McCormack was part of another two-run inning for UMass Boston in
the sixth when he knocked in his career-high matching fifth run of
the afternoon with a single to right field for a 6-0 lead. The
Beacons began the inning with a single from senior designated
hitter Jeff Outzen (San Mateo, Calif.), who scored on a double to
right center off the bat of sophomore third baseman Mike Mattei
(Sterling, Mass). Mattei then scored on McCormack’s base
knock. UMass Boston capped the scoring in the frame when junior
second baseman Ryan Walsh (Newton, Mass.) scalded a ball to third
that came up off the chest of the Anchormen third baseman to score
freshman shortstop Matt Consiglio (Southbury, Conn.) with the
Beacons’ seventh run.
The Beacons added two more runs in the seventh for multiple runs
in three straight innings. Outzen led off the inning with a single
to left center and later stole second, advanced to third on an
errant pick off throw and scored on a passed ball. Sophomore
outfielder Ty Buccetti (Wallingford, Conn.) worked a walk and later
came around to score on a double to the right field wall from
Tambling for a 9-0 advantage.
UMass Boston kept the bats hot in the eighth, courtesy of junior
catcher Tim Fontaine’s (Worcester, Mass.) school-record 10th
homer of the season to eclipse the former mark shared by Adam
Waxman (2000-03) and Pat Donovan (2004-05) and give the visitors a
10-0 margin.
Rhode Island College threatened in the first when sophomore
shortstop Kyle Allaire (Uxbridge, Mass.) led off with a single up
the middle and senior center fielder Jared Rossi (Johnson, R.I.)
drew a one-out bases on balls, but Dalton got out of the inning
with a fly out and a strikeout.
The Anchormen looked to get something going in the ninth with
junior first baseman Joseph Correia (Pascoag, R.I.) and Bracchi
smacking back-to-back singles for the hosts’ first hits since
the fourth inning. Dalton induced a double play as Correia advanced
to third for Rhode Island College’s first runner to reach
third base and Mattei made a diving backhand play at third and
finished the play with a strong throw to first.
Dalton raised his record to 7-1 with a complete-game, five-hitter.
The southpaw punched out at least one batter in the first six
frames to finish the contest with eight strikeouts. His
counterpart, junior Gary Levesque (East Providence, R.I.)
surrendered seven runs on 10 hits, while striking out five for the
Anchormen.
McCormack, Tambling, and Outzen each registered three hits for the
visitors, while Matei collected a pair of base knocks. Rhode Island
College was paced offensively by sophomore shortstop Kyle Allaire
(Uxbridge, Mass.).