NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Timely hitting and solid pitching in both games proved to be the deciding factor as baseball picked-up a pair of Little East Conference wins over the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth Saturday afternoon the first conference doubleheader of the 2013 season at the UMD Athletic Complex.
With the pair of victories, the Beacons closed out their first week back in New England with a 3-0 record to improve their overall record to 6-6. In conference play UMB closed out the first Saturday doubleheader with only 2-0 record in the LEC. Every team, with the exception of the Southern Maine/Western Connecticut State University doubleheader which was postponed, recorded a split. For the Corsairs they fell to 4-8 overall after Saturday's losses.
Having his best overall day so far this season was junior right fielder Jamill Moquette (Boston, Mass.) who went 5-for-9 with four RBI and two runs scored respectively. Catcher Todd Ezold (Westfield, Mass.) also had a strong showing at the plate as he finished game one 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while in game two he went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
On the hill Kyle Szatrowski (Agawam, Mass.) improved to 3-0 with his game one win, while Luca Ilges (Gloucester, Mass.) earned his first decision of the year, following the Beacons late inning rally in the nightcap. In the opener Szatrowski allowed nine hits through the first six innings, but did not surrender a run. He also allowed just one walk. For Ilges he closed out the final three innings of game two allowing just two hits and no runs to go along with a five strikeout performance. Patrick Austin got the start in the nightcap and through six innings fanned six batters.
GAME ONE
In the opener, the Beacons nearly squandered an 8-0 lead through the final three innings, as the Corsairs tacked on seven runs to nearly tie the game in the bottom half of the ninth. After a strong showing from Szatrowski through the first six innings, UMB's bullpen struggled to keep the momentum going but with a ninth inning save from Tyler Kane (Wilbraham, Mass.) the Beacons managed to hold on for the win.
It was in the opener that Moquette went off at the plate first driving in a run in the top of the first, before crushing a three run bomb in the sixth to blow the game wide open. The homer and RBI single in the second marked the first four runs driven in by the junior this season. Also going the distance was Ezold, his first of the year, in the second inning.
In the third the Beacons tacked on two more runs on a two RBI double by Kurtis White (Nahant, Mass.). After Moquette's homer made it an eight-run ball game things seemed to be all wrapped up for the Beacons. However, the Corsairs had other ideas first putting up four runs in the seventh to make it 8-4. They then made it a three-run game after the eighth, setting up what would be a very tense ninth. UMD would get a pair of runners on base to start off the final inning. Following the second single, the Beacons went to Kane. A fielding error would prove almost costly as a pair of runs would score. Both runs were charged to Matt Dziok (Southampton, Mass.), who started off the ninth after recording the final out of the eighth.
Now just a one-run game and with no outs on the scoreboard and a runner on second, Kane had to silence the now rowdy Corsairs dugout. He would get the next batter to fly out to right. The following batter would also fly out to Moquette in right field, but with the runner at second tagging on the catch Moquette was able to gun him out at third capping off the very hectic final inning.
GAME TWO
In the nightcap, UMB jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the second, but a five-run bottom of the seventh would put the Corsairs out in front with only two innings left to play. Down but not out, the Beacons clawed their way back into the contest, first by scoring a run in the eighth on a Moquette RBI single which scored Nick Brothers (Fort Myers, Fla.). Trailing by two, and with only three outs remaining, UMB started the ninth off with a single from Charles LaPaglia (Marshfield, Mass.).
Dartmouth did manage to get lead runner on a fielder's choice to put one out on the board. However a single from White would put runners on first and second. Ezold would then step to the plate and crush a double scoring both Beacons runners to tie the game at 5-5. The Beacons game-winning run would come as a result of a fielding error, which allowed then pinch runner Adam Gutierrez (Springfield, Mass.) to score.
Baseball returns to action on Monday when they host Westfield State University at 6 p.m. at Campanelli Stadium.