BROCKTON, Mass. – After a two-run double by sophomore Daniel Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) gave baseball a 7-5 lead the Beacons held on to not only win game-one over the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State University, but it also gave head coach Brendan Eygabroat his 200th career victory Sunday afternoon at Campanelli Stadium.
The Beacons would go on to split with the Warriors as ECSU took game two by the final of 12-5. With the split, the Beacons now stand at 10-9 overall, 3-3 in the conference. The Warriors now hold a record of 8-11, and are also 3-3 in LEC play.
For Eygabroat, his 200th victory marked another huge win for the Beacons skipper. The winningest coach in program history, Eygabroat has guided the Beacons to 10 straight tournament appearances, and in 2010 won both the Little East Conference Tournament and NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament championships. With Sunday's results Eygabroat now holds an all-time record of 200 wins and 224 losses, all of which he have been at UMass Boston.
Mantoni's huge two-run double in game one came in the bottom of the bottom of the eighth inning, after the Beacons tied the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth. Game two would see the Warriors combine for seven runs in the top half of the sixth to make it 7-4 at the time. ECSU would then tack on five runs over the final two innings, while holding the Beacons to just one run to secure the conference split.
GAME ONE – UMass Boston 7, Eastern Connecticut State University 5
In the opener Alex Carusotto (Pittsfield, Mass.), would go 0.2 of an inning to grab his third win of the year. Senior Josh Cummiskey (Lowell, Mass.) picked-up his second save, after earning the final two outs in the top half of the ninth. Neither pitcher allowed a run or a hit over the final two innings to give UMass Boston their second win in the last two seasons over ECSU.
Mantoni would lead the Beacons at the plate, as the sophomore went 2-for-5 with a double and a triple, and an RBI and a run scored. Todd Ezold (Westfield, Mass.) would also finish with a pair of hits, one of which was a double, while also finishing with two runs batted in. Trevor Bouvier (Salem, N.H.) crushed his second homer of the year off of the foul post to give UMB a 4-2 lead at the time.
The Beacons would combine for 10 hits, while the Warriors managed nine. Matt D'Orsi was handed his third loss of the year, after allowing two runs on two hits in the bottom of the eighth inning.
GAME TWO – UMass Boston 5, Eastern Connecticut State University 12
In the nightcap, a pinch hit grand slam by D.J. Scavone would shift the momentum in favor of the Warriors as they jumped out to a 7-4 lead. After a single run in the eighth, ECSU blew the game wide open on a three-run homer by Corey Keane, which would cap-off a four-run top of the ninth. Keane would finish the game with four RBI and two runs scored.
Orlando Gonzalez would earn the victory, his second of the year, after going 5.2 innings. He would strike out seven, and allowed five runs, one earned, on six hits.
Kyle Hart, also had a big day at the plate as he went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Ezequiel Sanchez (Manati, Puerto Rico) would crush the Beacons second homer of the day, a one-run bomb in the bottom of the sixth to cap-off a 2-for-4 day. The transfer would also finish with one run batted in, and two runs scored.
The Warriors would finish with 11 hits, while the Beacons posted seven in the loss. However ECSU's defense struggled all afternoon, as they finished with nine total errors, to the Beacons three.
Baseball returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to Southern Maine for a 3:30 p.m. conference game.