MOOSIC, Pa. – With an offensive explosion that consisted of an eight run fourth inning baseball improved to 2-0 in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament as they defeated Penn State Berks by the final of 10-5 Thursday afternoon at PNC Field.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 10, Penn State Berks 5
UMass Boston (30-14)
Penn State Berks (23-12)
HOW IT HAPPENED
With Thursday's win, the Beacons advanced in the winner's bracket and will now face the winner of #6 Kean University (N.J.)/#2 St. John Fisher College tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to Saturday's championship game with a spot in this year's College World Series on the line.
After falling into an early 3-0 hole, the Beacons offense overcame a very slow start and pounded the ball all over PNC Field. Kyle Boudrias (Medford, Mass.) started the scoring spree with a two-run double to right field, which scored Anthony Searles (Shelton, Conn.) and Ryan Olivo (Rochester, N.Y.). The star of the game Bryan Dupre(Chicopee, Mass.) then knocked in the Beacons third run of the day to tie the score at 3-3 on an RBI single through the left side.
Sal Frosceno (Derby, Conn.), who also had a huge game for the Beacons bats, gave UMB their first lead of the afternoon a sac-fly to deep right field, which scored Charlie Huegi (Sandy Hook, Conn.). The Beacons would continue to add to their lead following a wild pitch, which scored Dupre to make it 5-3 UMass. After Olivo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, an error by Berks' third baseman allowed two more runs to score to make it 8-3 UMB.
The Beacons would tack on another run in the fifth, with a single through the right side by Frosceno. Penn State would cut into the Beacons deficit as they scored a pair of runs following a throwing error. However that late rally was cut short, as another error by the Nittany Lions gave UMass their 10th and final run in the bottom of the inning to secure the victory.
Bobby Tramondozzi (Peabody, Mass.) for the second straight day closed out the contest in dominating fashion, while Bryan Kaufman (Farmingdale, N.Y.) came in in relief and had one of his best outings to grab the win. JT Morin (Wilton, Conn.) got the start in Thursday's contest and lasted four innings, before Kaufman took over in the fifth. Kaufman, who improved to 4-4, combined for four strikeouts, while Morin collected a pair of strikeouts, while allowing the first three runs on eight hits.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With the win the Beacons are now 6-0 in NCAA Regional Tournament play
- Thursday's contest marked the first meeting between the Beacons and Penn State Berks
- Every player for the Beacons accounted for at-least one run except for one player
- Dupre went 3-for-4 with one RBI and three runs scored; he now has three RBI, five runs scored, and is 5-for-9 with a double in the NCAA Regional Tournament
WHO'S NEXT
Baseball will now face the winner of Kean University (N.J.)/St. John Fisher College tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.