BOSTON, Mass. – A Nick Palma (Peabody, Mass.) go-ahead sac-fly in the bottom of the eighth inning capped-off an impressive comeback as the 22nd/29th ranked Beacons rallied from a 7-0 deficit to hand previously undefeated St. Joseph's College of Maine their first loss of 2019 as UMB earned a 9-8 victory Wednesday afternoon at Monan Park.
THE BASICS
#22/29 UMass Boston 9, St. Joseph's College of Maine 8
UMass Boston (6-4)
St. Joseph's of Maine (11-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After perhaps their toughest first three innings of 2019, the Beacons erased the huge deficit through the middle third to tie the game at 7-7. The Monks would then regain their lead in the top of the seventh, but was countered by a Ryan Collins (Peabody, Mass.) sac-fly to make it an 8-8 ball game. The Beacons tacked on their crucial run with the bases loaded in the eighth.
Palma entered the game as a pinch hitter. The sophomore would foul off a fast ball that was kept in play by the strong winds. The Monks' first baseman would catch the ball, allowing the Beacons to send senior Eddie Riley (Quincy, Mass.) home to earn their first and only lead of the night.
After the huge turnaround in the eighth, the Beacons handed the ball to their top closer in Bobby Tramondozzi (Peabody, Mass.), who despite giving-up a lead-off single, retired the next three batters in order to seal the win.
Defensively, Wednesday's contest was one of the worse for the Beacons in recent memory, as St. Joseph's was able to take advantage of the Beacons miscues. The Beacons offense also struggled in the early innings, as they ran into outs when they easily could have matched their regional rivals.
The Beacons comeback began in the fifth inning with Riley driving in their first run of the day on a groundout. Anthony Cecere (Wakefield, Mass.) and Kyle Boudrias (Medford, Mass.) would each plate a run in the fifth to make it a four-run ball game.
In the sixth inning, Nico Kydes (Stamford, Conn.) made it a three-run affair on a single to left field, while an infield RBI single by Charlie Huegi (Sandy Hook, Conn.) made it 7-5. Boudrias then collected the biggest of the day as he tied on a two-run single to deep right center with the bases loaded.
Unfortunately, the Monks would tie the game in the seventh on an error by Boudrias on a failed pick-off attempt that would have gotten UMB out of the inning. However, with Collins driving in the second tying run of the day, the Beacons knew that this game was theirs to win. The sac-fly by Palma completed the win for UMB, and marked one of UMB's most impressive comebacks in Monan Park history.
On the hill, Mike Doherty (Brewster, Mass.) collected his first win of the year, after going 1.1 innings, where he did not allow a hit or a run. Joe Maguire (Peabody, Mass.) got the start and allowed seven runs, three earned, on six hits over five innings.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Jonathan Marchia was handed the loss for the Monks (2-1) after allowing two runs on four hits over two innings of work
- In total the Monks had seven pitchers make an appearance
- UMB combined for 13 hits, which included a pair of doubles by Danny Brown
- The Monks had eight hits, two of which were home runs, while three others were doubles
- All-time the Beacons are now 7-4 against the Monks and have won six straight dating back to 2013
- Wednesday's contest marked the first time that Monks played in Monan Park
- Boudrias now needs just one hit to record his 200th career hit, which would make him just the fourth player in program history to achieve that career milestone
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will host Keene State College on Saturday in a Little East Conference doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m.