May 20, 2010
Box Score
MANSFIELD, CT - Junior first baseman Connor Reinfurt (Manchester, NH) rapped out four hits, including a pair of doubles and a homer to knock in a pair of runs and junior catcher Tim Fontaine (Worcester, MA) drove in a career-high five runs to lead the seventh-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston baseball team's 16-hit attack in a 12-3 victory over number two seed Wheaton College (MA) in the opening game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III tournament tonight at Eastern Baseball Stadium in Mansfield, CT. The Beacons are making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and have won six straight games and 12 of their last 14 to improve to 29-15 on the season. Ranked 14th nationally by D3baseball.com and second in the most recent New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) poll, the Lyons suffered just their second setback in 16 games to fall to 32-9.
UMass Boston will take on number three seed Western New England College, a 10-3 winner over sixth-seeded Westfield State College, tomorrow at 7:45 p.m. in Mansfield, CT. Wheaton will take on Westfield State at 1:15 p.m.
The start of the game was delayed 62 minutes by rain and ended at 12:24 a.m. EDT.
Sophomore southpaw James Dalton (Apopka, FL) won his eighth straight decision to improve to 8-1 for the Beacons and tie Steve Cahill's (1991-93) school record for victories set in 1993. The starter allowed just three runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out nine in nine complete innings for his sixth complete game.
UMass Boston broke the game open with a four-run sixth to create some breathing room and take an 8-2 lead. Three straight doubles to open the frame from senior left fielder Drew Tambling (Sterling, MA), sophomore center fielder Mark McCormack (Shelton, CT) and junior second baseman Ryan Walsh (Newton, MA) and a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of junior catcher Tim Fontaine (Worcester, MA) gave the Beacons a 6-2 lead. Junior first baseman Connor Reinfurt (Manchester, NH) blasted his fourth hit of the night over the left field fence for his seventh home run of the year and an 8-2 advantage for UMass Boston. Wheaton got a run back in the bottom of the frame when sophomore third baseman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA) sent an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for his fifth homer of the campaign to cut the deficit to 8-3.
The Beacons added two more insurance runs in the seventh when freshman shortstop Matt Consiglio (Southbury, CT) drew a one-out walk and McCormack later reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners. McCormack stole second and Walsh was intentionally walked to load the bases for Fontaine, who laced a single to center field to increase the UMass Boston lead to 10-3. The Beacons plated two runs in the ninth to end the evening's scoring when McCormack and Walsh drew one-out walks and both moved into scoring position on a stolen base to set up a two-run single through the right side from Fontaine for a 12-3 lead.
Wheaton got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first when sophomore center fielder Hal Landers (Salem, NH) reached on an infield single up the middle and freshman designated hitter Sean Ryan (Norton, MA) followed with a single to set up a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher by senior left fielder Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA) to put runners on second and third base. Sophomore third baseman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA) delivered a double down the left field line to plate both runners and snap UMass Boston starting pitcher James Dalton's (Apopka, FL) streak of 15 scoreless innings and give the Lyons a 2-0 lead. The Beacons answered in the next half inning when Reinfurt led off with a double down the right field line and senior designated hitter Jeff Outzen (San Mateo, CA) followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Sophomore third baseman Mike Mattei (Spencer, MA) hit a ground ball off the glove of the Wheaton pitcher, but was thrown out by the shortstop, but not before Reinfurt scored UMass Boston's first-ever run in NCAA Tournament play. Junior right fielder Jose Roman Santos (Tenares, DR) next hit a squibber just in front of the plate for an infield single, but the throw from the catcher was wide of first allowing Outzen to knot the game at 2-2.
The Beacons took their first lead of the night in the fourth when Mattei smacked the first pitch he saw to center field for a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Santos and advanced to third when Consiglio reached on an error. Tambling crushed a pitch to deep left center field that was tracked down by the Lyons' center fielder, but Mattei tagged up and cruised home for a 3-2 edge. Sophomore centr fielder McCormack hit a bullet up the middle, but Wheaton freshman shortstop Eric Jensen (Gorham, NH) made a diving stab and flipped to second for the inning ending out to limit the damage.
UMass Boston tacked on another run in the fifth when junior second baseman Walsh worked a leadoff walk and went to third on a one-out hard single off the bat of Reinfurt that exploded at the feet of the Lyons' shortstop to put runners on the corners. Outzen came through with a line drive single to right field to chase Wheaton sophomore starting pitcher Nolan Corr (Somersworth, NH) from the game with the fourth run of the contest for the Beacons. Freshman lefty reliever Justin Santiago (Bronx, NY) got out of the jam for the Lyons, getting two outs around a walk.
Corr falls to 8-2 on the year for Wheaton after allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk to go with a strikeout.
Fontaine finished with three hits, while McCormack, Outzen and Santos all collected a pair of hits for UMass Boston. Walsh's double extended his hitting streak to 17 straight games. Haugh led the Lyons with two hits and three at-bats, while driving in three runs with a double and a homer.
