AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Trailing by as much as eight runs, baseball completed a huge late inning comeback as they scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning to earn a 10-9 win over DeSales University Friday afternoon at Lake Myrtle Park in the first game of their 2017 spring trip. 

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 10, DeSales University 9

UMass Boston (2-1)
DeSales University (3-7)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Trailing 9-5 going into the top of the 9^th, senior Dan Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) kick started the rally as he ripped a huge two-run double to cut the Bulldogs lead to two with no outs on the scoreboard.  From there the Beacons would load the bases but would have two outs lingering making every at-bat more and more crucial.

Luckily, Nick Herzog (Riverhead, N.Y.) who homered in the earlier in the contest had no issues coming up with a clutch single which scored a pair of runs.  Now even at 9-9 the Beacons would once again occupy each base with Eddie Riley (Quincy, Mass.) coming up to bat.  The infielder would force the game-winning walk, with Josh Lopez (New Haven, Conn.) reaching home plate to give the Beacons their first and only lead of the day.

After the Bulldogs secured the final out, the Beacons turned to Bobby Tramondozzi (Peabody, Mass.) to close out the victory.  The sophomore righty allowed a lead-off single, but quickly converted that into a double play.  Needing just one more out to secure the save, the Bulldogs would manage just one more single, before Tramondozzi closed out the win on a ground out to second.

Herzog and Mantoni led the Beacons with three RBI a-piece, while Mantoni also finished with a pair of runs scored in his 2-for-4 afternoon.  Anthony Searles (Shelton, Conn.) continued his streak of extra base hits as he ripped a double in the first inning. 

Friday's win went to Alex Carusotto (Pittsfield, Mass.) who did not allow a hit, and had one strikeout in his one inning of work.  DeSales' Adam Donovan dropped to 0-2 on the year after allowing the game-winning run in just 0.2 inning. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston combined for 15 hits in the win, while DeSales finished with 12
• The Beacons pitchers recorded a combined 11 strikeouts
• DeSales scored a total of five runs in the first inning and added three more in the fourth before the Beacons scored five straight to make it 8-3; DeSales last run of the day came in the seventh.
• Fernando Burgos (Hyde Park, Mass.) got the start on Friday and had 5 K's while allowing seven runs, all earned, on six hits while also walking four in 3.1 innings
• Friday's contest marked the first-ever meeting between UMB and DeSales

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will face Rowan University tomorrow at 6 pm at Lake Myrtle Park Field #1.