BOSTON, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Boston junior starting pitcher Dan Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) tossed seven strong innings while collecting three hits at the plate to power No. 1 seeded UMass Boston past No. 2 University of Southern Maine, 5-3, in the first elimination game of the 2016 Little East Conference tournament Thursday afternoon at Monan Park.

THE BASICS

#1 UMass Boston 5, #3 Southern Maine

(UMass Boston 27-13)

(Southern Maine 29-13) 

HOW IT HAPPENED

After racing out to a 5-0 lead, the Beacons held on for a nervy victory to improve to 3-0 on the year against the top-ranked team in New England. With the bases loaded and two outs, freshman JT Morin (Wilton, Conn.) came on and got the final out for his first collegiate save.  

The Beacons stay alive and improve to 27-13 on the year, while the loss eliminates the Huskies from the LEC tournament as they move to 29-13 on the year. 

Early in the action after two quiet frames, the Huskies threatened to get on the board in the third inning collecting a pair of hits with a third baserunner reaching via an error before UMass Boston junior Mantoni worked his way out of the jam. The Beacons' ace got some help in the frame with a great defensive pick-off play by junior catcher Anthony Searles (Shelton, Conn.) who gunned down a runner caught leaning towards third at second base.

USM freshman starting pitcher Dalton Rice held the Beacons hitless through the first two frames before UMB got to him in the third. Sophomore Sal Frosceno (Derby, Conn.) led off the inning with a single up the middle and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Josh Lopez (New Haven, Conn.). Frosceno came around to give UMass Boston a 1-0 lead on an RBI single through the left side with two down by Mantoni. Next up, junior Dave Murphy (Plymouth, Mass.) bumped the lead to 3-0 with his team-leading seventh home run of the season, blasting an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall.

After getting the first out in the top of the fifth, Mantoni issued a pair of walks to sophomore catcher Kyle Heath and freshman second baseman Jake Dexter to put the tying run at the plate. The junior settled down and retired the side stranding two runners on base to keep the Beacons in front 3-0.

With one out in the fifth, UMass Boston sophomore outfielder Lionel Danielson (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) was hit by a pitch to get things started for the Beacons. Danielson was off and running with Mantoni up and advanced all the way to third on an infield single to third by the starting pitcher. Murphy would load the bases drawing a walk also chasing Rice from the game. On in relief, USM senior Ryan Browner (Georgetown, Mass.) issued a bases loaded walk to freshman Ryan Olivo (Rochester, N.Y.) to make it 4-0 in favor of the hosts. The control problems continued as Browner issued Southern Maine's third consecutive walk to Searles, forcing in the second UMass Boston run of the inning for a 5-0 score.

Browner was pulled after just two batters in favor of USM senior Dan Kinnon who did his job, inducing a 4-6-3 double play to get the Huskies out of the inning.

The Huskies got on the board in the seventh to cut the lead to 5-1. Junior Paul McDonough led off the frame with a single and came around to score Southern Maine's first run on a two-out RBI single from sophomore Nick Bowie. Mantoni was able to strand two on the base paths to get out of the inning and stand in line for the decision working seven innings and allowing just the one run on six hits while striking out seven.

Sam Dexter led off the eighth inning with a double down the left field line for their first extra base hit of the afternoon. Later in the frame senior Jake Glauser ripped a single to left to drive in Dexter and make it a 5-2 game but Glauser was shot down at second base trying to stretch the single into a double on a tremendous throw by defensive replacement Bryan Dupre (Chicopee, Mass.).

UMass Boston closer Manny Garcia (Boston, Mass.) worked an inning and two thirds to record a hold in the win. He surrendered a two-out RBI single to right by S. Dexter to make it 5-3 before loading the bases and giving way to Morin. In just his third collegiate relief appearance, Morin came on and induced a groundout to second, preserving the 5-3 win.

Mantoni picks up the win to improve to 3-2 on the year while Rice suffers his first loss of the campaign falling to 3-1 overall.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston moves to 3-0 on the season against the Huskies and 7-0 on the year against regionally-ranked teams in New England. The Beacons are 10-7 against the Huskies since May of 2010. 
• Mantoni has now allowed one earned run in three of his past four outings and has struck out seven or more batters in four of his 10 starts. 
• In three games against Southern Maine, UMass Boston's pitching staff held the Huskie's top two hitters, S. Dexter and Sam Stauble, to a 2-for-20 mark. S. Dexter had both of those hits late in today's contest.
• On the day, Mantoni and Searles combined to pick off three Huskies' baserunners. 
• Southern Maine finishes the LEC Tournament 0-2 for the first time in LEC Tournament history (19 years).

WHO'S NEXT

The #1 Beacons advance to Friday action of the Little East Conference tournament and will play tomorrow at 3:30 PM. The Beacons will face either the loser of game six or #4 Plymouth State University (depending on the result of #6 Western Connecticut State University and #4 Plymouth State University). Southern Maine will hand their fate over to the NCAA tournament selection committee and will wait to see if they receive an at-large bid.

RELEASE COURTESY OF DAN CAMPAGNA, EMMANUEL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR