MANSFIELD, Conn. – Beacons baseball saw their 2022 campaign come to a close on day three of the Little East Conference Tournament as they were handed an 8-7 loss by top-seeded and top-ranked Eastern Connecticut State University and a 10-6 loss by UMass Dartmouth in an elimination game Friday evening at ECSU Baseball Stadium.
THE BASICS
GM1: UMass Boston 7, #1/1 Eastern Connecticut State University 8
GM2: UMass Boston 6, UMass Dartmouth 10
UMass Boston (26-17)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Eastern Connecticut State will now face the Corsairs in Saturday's championship game. The Warriors will only have to win one game to claim the 2022 title, while the Corsairs will have to win a pair to cap-off a four-game in 24 hours marathon.
Against the Warriors, the Beacons had the number one team in the country up against the ropes for most of the contest. However seven unanswered runs in the middle-third of the contest pushed ECSU out-in-front. Luke Broadhurst drove in what would be the deciding two-runs in the seventh to cap-off a four-run sixth inning.
The Beacons came within a run of tying the ball game in the eighth as
Drew Metzdorf and
Craig Corliss each knocked in a run. Unfortunately, the Warriors were able to hold-off the Beacons comeback as they earned the one-run decision.
Steve Brookwell had a solid day at the plate against the Warriors as he went 3-for-4 with two RBI, two runs scored, and a walk.
Tim Cianciolo went five complete and had three K's in the no-decision.
In the elimination game, it was the Corsairs who struck first. They would hold their lead for the entire contest, as they eliminated the Beacons from the tournament for the second-straight year.
After the Beacons tied the game at 4-4 in the second, the Corsairs used a three-run fourth and a two-run sixth to gain some breathing room. They added an additional run in the eighth, while holding the Beacons to just two runs, both of which were scored in the fifth.
Corilss led the Beacons with a 3-for-4 showring with an RBI.
Nico Kydes had the Beacons only homer, a two-run shot in the fifth.
Beacons pitching combined for an impressive 14 strikeouts but did allow seven walks. The 10 UMD runs were scored on 10 hits.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Head coach Brendan Eygabroat will start the 2023 campaign needing just six wins to earn his 400th. He would be the only coach in UMass Boston history to record all 400 NCAA wins in a career at UMB.
- Friday's contests marked the final in the careers of Corliss, Brookwell, Kydes, DJ Lopes, Nick Palma, Henry Score, Dylan Fashempour, Nick Lepore, and Thomas Cue
- UMB finished 2-1 against the Corsairs and 0-3 against ECSU in 2022
