March 24, 2010
Box Score
East Providence, RI - Sophomore center fielder Mark McCormack (Shelton, CT) and junior second baseman Ryan Walsh (Newton, MA) combined to knock in seven runs to lead the University of Massachusetts Boston baseball team over host Johnson & Wales University, 9-6, in non-conference action this afternoon at Pierce Field in East Providence, RI. The Beacons have won six of their last seven games and improve to 7-3 on the season for their best start since the 2002 team began 8-2. The Wildcats fall to 2-13.
Jonathan Melendez (Providence, RI) put Johnson & Wales on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, giving the Wildcats the 1-0 advantage. JWU extended its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth when junior Matt Yaeger (Glendale, AZ) scored on an RBI groundout by freshman Tyler Newell (Westerly, RI) and an RBI single by freshman Rich MacDonald (Larchmont, NY) gave the squad the three-run advantage.
UMass Boston rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh on back-to-back RBI groundouts by sophomore right fielder Ty Buccetti (Wallingford, CT) and McCormack, cutting the deficit to 3-2. The visiting Beacons then took a 4-3 lead on a two-run home run by Walsh, his second long ball of the year. JWU responded in the bottom of the seventh when a double by junior Zach Boyes (West Warwick, RI) scored junior Teddy Katz (Pittsburgh, PA) to knot the game at 4-4. In the top of the eighth, UMass Boston continued its offensive awakening with five more runs. The Beacons took a 5-4 lead on an RBI single by senior left fielder Drew Tambling (Sterling, MA). UMass Boston's lead then grew to 8-4 on a three run double by McCormack. UMB took a 9-4 advantage into the bottom of the eighth. After a scoreless top of the ninth, JWU got two runs back with a two-run home run by Katz cut the lead to 9-6. That would be as close as the Wildcats would get, however as UMass Boston held on for the three-run victory.
Katz was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI in the loss for Johnson & Wales, while senior Nick Marine (Bristol, RI) pitched five scoreless innings for in the start for the Wildcats, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.
Walsh went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs to go with a pair of stolen bases, including the 35th of his career to move into fifth on UMass Boston's career list. McCormack registered a pair of hits to extend his team-high hitting streak to 13 straight games and added four RBI for the Beacons. Junior relief hurler Tony Damon (San Bruno, CA) went three innings of relief for UMass Boston, allowing three runs on four hits, while striking out one to pick up the victory and improve to a perfect 3-0 on the season.
With the loss JWU is now 2-13 for the season while UMass Boston improves to 7-3 for the year. The Wildcats will return to action on Friday, March 26th when they travel to UMass Dartmouth for a non-conference contest, starting at 3:30 p.m.
