BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Dartmouth rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh in game and carried that momentum into game two, to spoil Senior Day for UMass Boston softball on Saturday at the UMB Softball Field.
THE BASICS
UMass Dartmouth 5, UMass Boston 4
UMass Dartmouth 10, UMass Boston 4
(UMass Boston 2-8, Little East 2-8)
(UMass Dartmouth 5-10-1, Little East 5-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
UMass Boston was cruising through the first six innings on Saturday, before the Corsairs struck for four runs on three hits and an error to take a 5-4 advantage. The Beacons would load the bases in the bottom half of the inning, but senior Jill Richards struck out the final batter to close out the victory.
After the conclusion of game two, UMass Boston honored seniors
Kelly Danahy (Kingston, Mass.),
Drew Washington (Bordentown, N.J.) and
Tori Dicenso (Lynn, Mass.).
GAME ONE RECAP
UMass Dartmouth's seventh-inning comeback spoiled huge games from
Brianna Melchionda (Marshfield, Mass.) and
Caley Ruggiero (Southbury, Conn.).
Melchionda, the Beacons' freshman starting pitcher, was on her way to her best collegiate outing through six innings. She tied her career-high with 10 strikeouts and allowed just one run and five hits through six innings. Melchionda finished the game allowing eight hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks.
Ruggiero provided most of the Beacons' offense. The junior third baseman finished 3-4 with a double, two triples, a run scored and three RBI.
Fellow junior
Britney Perkett (Pittsfiled, Mass.) was the only other Beacon to finish with multiple hits in the contest (2-4).
Richards earned the win after scattering 11 hits, four runs (two earned) and one walk. The senior struck out eight to improve to 3-5.
UMass Boston took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. With two on and two out, Ruggiero's high fly ball down the right-field line fellow amongst three players and
Sarah Harlinski (Sturbridge, Mass.) and
Lauryn Bethea (Springfield, Mass.) both scored.
After UMass Dartmouth cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the third, the Beacons pushed the advantage to three in the fourth. With Dicenso on second and two outs, Ruggiero crushed a triple over the left fielder's head to make it 3-1. Perkett followed with a bunt single and raced to second forcing a throw-which allowed Ruggiero to scamper home with the fourth run of the game.
UMass Dartmouth turned the tide in the seventh. After Melchionda got the lead off batter, each of the next four batters reached to cut the deficit to 4-3. Kylie Fletcher tied the game with an RBI groundout to second and the Corsairs took the lead on the next batter after a Beacons' error.
GAME TWO RECAP
UMass Dartmouth raced out to a 9-0 lead and held the Beacons bats at bay in a 10-4 game two victory.
Danahy paced the Beacons offensively with a pair of hits and two RBI.
Alley Diaute (Braintree, Mass.) and Harlinski each added two hits of their own and combined for three runs scored.
In the circle,
Emily Doble (Danvers, Mass.) was excellent in relief. She threw the final four innings and held the Corsairs to three hits and one unearned run, while striking out three.
Corsairs freshman starting Kaitlyn Shirshac went the distance and earned the win after scattering 10 hits, four runs (three earned) and one walk.
UMass Dartmouth sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning as they jumped out to a 4-0 advantage.
The Corsairs scored five more in the third, as they sent eight batters to the plate and used four runs and one error to score all five base runners.
UMass Boston got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Harlinski led off with a single, moved to second on a ground out and came in to score on a Diaute single, when the right fielder bobbled the ball. With Diaute on second after the error, Danahy followed with an RBI single up the middle to cut it to 9-2.
The Beacons closed out their scoring in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Danahy singled down the left field line to plate Dicenso. Harlinski raced home two batters later, when a wild pitch skipped all the way to the backstop.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Melchionda became the third pitcher in program history to strike out 10 or more batters in a single game on multiple occasions. She has now struck out 33 batters in 28.2 innings. Her current K's per 7 innings pitched rate of 8.06 would be the highest for a Beacons pitcher in a season in program history.
- UMass Boston is now riding a season-long, seven-game losing streak. The Beacons have been swept in each of their past three doubleheaders.
- Ruggiero tied the program record for triples hit in a single game in game one. She is the 11th player to hit two triples in a game and the first since Lyndsey Capra ('15) in April 2014.
- The Beacons trail the all-time series against the Corsairs 36-19. UMass Boston had won six of the previous seven meetings dating back to May 2016.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will begin a crucial final week of the regular season on Tuesday, when they host Rhode Island College for a doubleheader at 3 and 5 p.m.
