BOSTON, Mass. – With a pair of home runs by junior Dave Murphy (Plymouth, Mass.) including a grand slam, and a solo shot by Dan Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) baseball put together one of their most dominant performances on their new field as they cruised past regionally-ranked Western New England University by the final of 10-1 Wednesday afternoon at Monan Park.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 10, Western New England University 1

UMass Boston (9-8)
Western New England U. (10-4)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Even at 1-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, the Beacons offense exploded for one of their biggest offensive showings this season, as they hung eight runs in the inning to take a commanding 9-1 lead at the time. 

Chris Fowler (Barnstable, Mas.) sparked the eight run inning with an RBI single to left field.  Kyle Boudrias (Medford, Mass.) and Sal Frosceno (Derby, Conn.) each drove in a run on RBI singles to make it 4-1 Beacons.  The Golden Bears would then walk in a run after loading the bases.

After crushing the first home run by a Beacons player at Monan Park in the first inning, Murphy absolutely destroyed the ball and cleared the bases for the first-ever Beacons grand slam in their new home.  The Plymouth native ended the afternoon with five RBI, and two runs scored.  Lionel Danielson (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) and Fowler were also had strong at-bats as they both went 3-for-4 with a run scored.

With the game all but secured, Mantoni got in on the action in the eighth as he hit a moon shot over the 27 foot high "Monster" wall to secure the Beacons 10-1 victory.

On the hill it was all Fernando Burgos (Hyde Park, Mass.) from the start.  The freshman righty improved to 2-0 after his best appearance by far as he went eight complete innings, and allowed just the one run on three hits.  He also had four strikeouts in the win, his second of the year (2-0).  Sal Frosceno (Derby, Conn.) closed out the ninth and allowed just one hit, and had one K.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston is now 3-5 all-time against Western New England
• The Golden Bears went into the contest ranked sixth in New England on the most recent NEIBA Poll
• Burgos is now only the second pitcher this year to go eight innings, behind Bryan Kaufman (Farmingdale, N.Y.)
• Andrew Mulvey was handed the loss for WNEU after allowing eight runs, all earned, on six hits in 3.1

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will travel to Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday for their first conference doubleheader of the year.  The first pitch of the twinbill is scheduled for 11 a.m.