DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Two timely hits and three RBI by freshman DeVon King (Carver, Mass.) were enough as the Corsairs rallied to down Wesleyan (Conn.) 7-6 Wednesday afternoon at home. The game marked the first win for the Corsairs over the Cardinals since a 12-10 victory in California in 2006. UMass Dartmouth improves to 9-12 on the year, while Wesleyan falls to 15-5.
Senior David Tarr (Easton, Mass.) pitched 3.2 innings and struck out five in relief to pick up his second win of the year for UMass Dartmouth. Freshman Drew CaraDonna (Pembroke, Mass.) got the start for the Corsairs, scattering six hits over 4.1 innings of work. Sophomore closer Matt Cronin (Framingham, Mass.) picked up his third save of the season after pitching the ninth inning.
Wesleyan cracked the scoring column first in the top half of the third inning. Junior Ellis Schaefer (Newton Square, Pa.) beat out an infield single to lead off the inning. Schaefer proceeded to steal second base during the next batter. He would advance to third on a one-out single by senior Guy Davidson (New York, N.Y.) before scoring on a passed ball. After a walk, sophomore Matt Heye (Holliston, Mass.) singled to left center to score Davidson from second.
The Cardinals would increase their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth inning, when senior Marco Baratta (Tenafly, N.J.) singled with the bases loaded to left field.
UMass Dartmouth then began its steady comeback in the bottom half of the fifth, when sophomore Josh O'Neill (Halifax, Mass.) hit a single to left field to score both classmates Mac Curran (Lakeville, Mass.) and Kenny Michael (Norwood, Mass.).
After a lone run in the top half of the sixth by Wesleyan, UMass Dartmouth tied the game in the bottom half of the frame when Curran laced a single up the middle to score both sophomore Jack Harrington (Barnstable, Mass.) and junior Taylor Cacciola (West Greenwich, RI.).
The Corsairs would eventually take the 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh, when King blasted a home run to right field. In the following inning, the Corsairs then loaded the bases with two outs before King came to the plate. He sprinted out a chopper to the shortstop, scoring a pair of runs to increase the Corsair lead to 7-4.
In the top of the ninth, junior Nick Miceli (West Hartford, Conn.) drew a walk to start off the inning. The next batter, Davidson, launched a ball over the fence in left field to cut the Corsairs lead to one. This set the stage for Cronin, who struck out two of the first three batters he saw. With a runner on second base and two outs, freshman Andrew Keith (Millersville, Md.) hit a ground ball to O'Neill at second base, who fired home after a bobble to get the pinch runner at the plate and seal the victory.
Freshman Ryan Earle (Hanover, Mass.) was credited with the loss for the Cardinals after pitching one inning in relief. The lone hit he surrendered was King's solo shot.
The Corsairs return to action tomorrow as they travel to Springfield, Mass. to take on the Western New England Golden Bears for a 3:30pm first pitch. Wesleyan will return to NESCAC play on Friday with a home contest against Williams at 4 p.m.