MANSFIELD, Conn. – Adam Maher of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth outdueled Eastern Connecticut State University's Dan Driscoll (Waterford) in a match-up of sophomore left-handed aces as the Corsairs salvaged a Little East Conference baseball split with a 3-1 second-game victory Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
Maher (3-1) of UMass Dartmouth (12-10, 3-3 LEC) became the first opposing pitcher to hurl a complete game against No. 5 Eastern (19-5, 5-1 LEC) in the nightcap after sophomore righty Matthew Wootton (Milford) became the first Eastern pitcher this year to pitch a complete game in the Warriors' opening-game 11-1 seven-inning victory that gave Eastern its seventh straight win over the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth 3, Eastern Conn. 1
In the most compelling pitchers' dual of the season, Maher (3-1) was masterful through eight innings, carrying a three-hit, 3-0 shutout into the bottom of the ninth before faltering slightly as the Warriors showed their first signs of life. Having thrown over 100 pitches through seven innings, Maher walked two and gave up two hits in the ninth, but wiggled free by getting No. 8 batter Ray Leonzi (Trumbull) on a game-ending infield pop fly to leave the bases loaded and record his second complete game of the season.
In the Eastern ninth, a walk to No. 2 hitter Jason Claiborn (Prospect) and senior catcher Matt Malcom's RBI double gave Eastern its first run of the game and cut the gap to 3-1. Cleanup hitter Ryan Parent (Southington) followed with an opposite-field single to left on the seventh pitch he saw from Maher, and both runners advanced into scoring position on a passed ball. At this point, Maher re-gained his composure, getting a foul popout for the first out and a swinging strikeout for the second out. Maher then walked Brent Cosculluela (Miami) to load the bases and went seven pitches and survived a long foul (potential game-ending) home run before retiring Leonzi on a fly ball to third baseman Andrew Possi.
Maher threw 94 of his 154 pitches for strikes, pitching a five-hitter while fanning ten and walking only the two in the ninth inning, and also hitting two. Maher was matched for eight innings by Driscoll (5-1), who fanned a career-high 12 for the second time in his last three starts. Driscoll also gave up only five hits and walked only one and also hit two batters. One of the three runs he allowed was unearned when the Corsairs took a 2-0 lead in the third on a leadoff single, sacrifice bunt, infield error and consecutive hit-by-pitches. UMass made it 3-0 in the fourth on three hits, Geordan Jackson Murphy's double to left driving in T.J. Keene, who had opened the inning with a bunt single.
Driscoll threw 75 of his 111 pitches for strikes before giving way to junior righty Finn Doherty (Milton, MA), who fanned two in the ninth.
Eastern Conn. 11, UMass Dartmouth 1 (7 inn.)
Leading 2-0, Eastern scored four times in the fourth on four hits – including Matt Malcom's (East Lyme) eighth home run of the season (32nd of his career) – and put the game away with four more in the sixth when the first four batters reached safely and came around to score.
Now 6-0 in his career, Wootton (4-0) tossed his first complete game in six career starts. He fanned five, walked one and hit a batter while spacing six singles and was aided by three infield double plays which upped the team's total to 18 – equalling the most in the conference.
Wootton allowed more than one hit in an inning only once – with Eastern leading 7-0 in the top of the sixth -- when he also walked a batter and allowed cleanup hitter Andrew Bryant's RBI single through the right side for the Corsair's only run. He threw 88 pitches, 57 of them for strikes.
Eastern victimized two UMass pitchers for 13 hits – five of them good for extra bases. Malcom was 4-for-4 with two singles (the second one a bunt), a double and his eighth home run which gave him a share of the LEC lead. He drove in three runs and score two. Cosculluela had a two-run double and a triple and scored twice, and Leonzi reached three times with two singles and a walk and scored a run. Leadoff hitter Zach Donahue (South Windsor) and Claiborn both scored twice and drove in a run each.
Donahue reached safely in each game of the doubleheader to extend his on-base streak to 16 and Josh Cofrancesco (Southington) singled in his final at-bat of the first game and singled in his first plate appearance of the nightcap and has now hit safely in ten straight.
Malcom was 5-for-7 with a double, home run, four RBI, two runs scored and a hit-by-pitch in the doubleheader.
Eastern visits Western Connecticut State University in an LEC game Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.