GORHAM, Maine – Led by Orlando Gonzalez's complete game, the fifth-seeded Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State University eliminated the Beacons from the Little East Conference Tournament by the final of 8-1 Friday afternoon at USM Baseball Stadium.

The Beacons were held to the lone run, which they scored in the first inning, and seven hits, as they lefty combined for 14 strikeouts and just three walks. 

Ranked fourth in the region, the Beacons will now look to the NCAA selection committee for a possible at-large bid to the regional tournament, which begins next Wednesday.  The NCAA will post a press release with this year's regional brackets on Sunday at midnight on www.ncaa.com.

Scoring the lone run for UMass was Josh Lopez (New Haven, Conn.) as sophomore Daniel Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) ripped the team's only double of the afternoon down the left field line.  Two batters later the Beacons had the bases loaded with only one out the board.  However the Beacons would waste the opportunity to take even larger lead as Gonzalez recorded back-to-back K's.

Eastern Connecticut would take advantage of the missed opportunity as they scored five in the bottom half of the second inning to make it a four-run ball game.  They would then put-up another run in the third to take a 6-1 lead

UMass would threaten again in the fifth inning with runners first and second, but would fall short for the second time, as Gonzalez got out of the inning with strikeout.

The Warriors got their final two runs of the contest in the bottom half of the sixth on an RBI double and an RBI single.

Freshman righty Steve Witkowski (Pittsfield, Mass.) made his collegiate tournament debut and came out firing in the first inning.  He would strikeout two and allowed just a walk to get the Beacons afternoon off to a great start.  Unfortunately, the Warriors five-run second would mark the end of the afternoon for the freshman, who would eventually be handed the loss, his first of the year.

Steve Consiglio (Southbury, Conn.) and Josh Cummiskey (Lowell, Mass.) would go the final six innings and surrendered three runs on nine hits respectively.

If the Beacons do not receive the at-large Sunday morning, the 2015 campaign remains the second-most successfully season in program history with their 23-15 record.  The Beacons will graduate eight seniors this season.