AUSTIN, Texas - The UMass Boston baseball team took and early 3-0 lead before holding on for a 4-3 non-conference victory at Concordia University (Texas) Thursday night. Senior Drew Metzdorf (Burlington, Mass.) was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of RBI for the Beacons.
 
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 4, Concordia (Texas) 3
 
UMass Boston (4-2)
Concordia (0-6)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Beacons never trailed in this one, scoring each of the first three runs of the contest.
 
 Graduate Steve Brookwell (Highstown, N.J.) drew a leadoff walk before scoring from second on senior Craig Corliss' (Hopkinton, Mass.) single up the middle in the top of the first to give UMass Boston a 1-0 lead. Junior Aidan Blake (Lakeville, Mass.) later drew a one-out walk in the top of the fourth before heading home from second on sophomore Kevin Carrera's (Sandwich, Mass.) to make it 2-0. Brookwell would score two more times in the game, heading home on doubles to left off the bat of Metzdorf in the fifth and seventh frames.
 
Concordia threated to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth after putting runners on first and third with one away following singles from sophomore EJ Sanchez and junior Jayden Hernandez. Sophomore Chris Varlejen followed by popping out to first for the second out of the inning. Sophomore Jordan Sydno then scored from third on classmate Aaron Gomez's single to left after entering as a pinch runner before Sydno was gunned down at third on the same play to end the threat and the game.
 
The Tornados first got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Hernandez led off with a walk before Varljen reached on an error. Both moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt from Gomez and scored on senior Dalton Watts' single up middle.
 
Junior Tim Cianciolo (New Milford, Conn.) improved to 2-0 after allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out seven over 5.1 innings for UMass Boston. Graduate Josh Eastman (Marshfield, Mass.) earned his first save of the year after holding the Tornados to one run on three hits and three walks with five Ks over the final 3.2 innings.
 
Freshman Caleb Fields took the loss on the hill for Concordia, dropping his record to 0-1. He allowed two runs on two hits with five free passes and three strikeouts over his 3.2 innings of work.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
 
The Beacons and Tornados will meet again Friday for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.