AUBURNDALE, Fla. --  Senior Mike Knell (Dennis, Mass.) rapped out a pair of hits and drove in two runs, as UMass Dartmouth remained unbeaten and continued its best start in a quarter century by notching a 9-2 non-league college baseball victory over Dubuque at the RussMatt Invitational Monday afternoon at Lake Myrtle Park.

The Corsairs, who improve to 7-0 on the young season, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat when senior Erick Ramirez (Boston, Mass.) tripled and scored on fellow senior Nate Tellier's (Attleboro, Mass.) sacrifice fly, but the Spartans (1-4) evened matters in the third on sophomore Jordan Goldstein's (Huntley, Ill.) sacrifice fly.  Knell's solo homer in the bottom of the fourth gave UMass Dartmouth the lead for good, and the Corsairs tacked on three more tallies in the fifth on Ramirez's RBI double that was followed by back-to-back run-scoring triples from Tellier and Knell.

An error and a passed ball in the bottom of the sixth helped extend UMass Dartmouth's advantage to 7-1, and the Corsairs closed out their scoring when freshman DJ Perron (Swansea, Mass.) belted a solo homer in the seventh and Knell scored on a wild pitch in the eighth.  Dubuque accounted for the final margin when senior JJ Valencia (Marysville, Wash.) drew a bases loaded walk in the ninth, but the Spartans left the bases loaded to end the game.

Knell and Ramirez were joined by junior Tucker Hetherman (Webster, Mass.) & sophomore Frank Celona (Peabody, Mass.) in collecting two hits each as part of a 12-hit attack for UMass Dartmouth in support of freshman Ryan Qualey (Woburn, Mass.), who scattered three hits and fanned seven over six innings to earn his first collegiate triumph on the mound for the Corsairs.  Senior Luke Carroll (Dubuque, Iowa) rapped out two of five hits on the day for Dubuque, as senior Tyler Carlson (Crystal Lake, Ill.) allowed seven earned runs and struck out five in 5 2/3 innings to fall to 1-1 for the Spartans.

UMass Dartmouth squares off with Penn State-Abington on Tuesday afternoon at the RussMatt Invitational beginning at 3:30 pm.