DUDLEY, Mass. – A quiet afternoon on the road for UMass Boston Baseball quickly turned raucous as the Beacons overcame a 3-0 deficit in the latter stages of the game, using eight runs on seven hits in the seventh inning to propel themselves past Nichols College, 8-4, on Thursday afternoon to kick off their four-game road trip.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 8, Nichols College 4
UMass Boston (19-10)
Nichols College (12-17)
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second time this season, freshman pitcher
Ethan Hunt would get the start on the mound for the Beacons, going a full four innings and allowing one run on four hits while striking out two batters. The lone run he gave up would come in that fourth and final inning when sophomore outfielder Karl Miller hit a solo home run to give Nichols College a 1-0 lead.
The Bison would tack on one more run in each of the next two innings on a solo home run by junior infielder Johnny Knox in the fifth while a delayed steal in the sixth inning saw junior catcher Ben Jerome get thrown out at second, but sophomore outfielder Stanley Cipkas come across for the third run of the afternoon for the Bison.
UMass Boston's bats would finally come to life in the seventh inning as the first three batters would reach base for the Beacons, starting their rally that would see them take their first lead of the contest. Junior outfielder
Luke Leavitt kicked off the big inning with an RBI single and freshman outfielder
Justin Gouveia knocked home the game-tying runs with a two-run single. Senior second baseman
Aidan Blake's RBI single gave the Beacons the lead, 4-3, which they would stretch to five runs, 8-3, following senior infielder
Gianni Zarrilli Jr. getting hit by a pitch, a wild pitch, and then a two-run single by junior infielder
Bostyn Burris.
Nichols would get a run back against senior pitcher
Ethan Errera in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by senior Brad Ellis, but the bullpen arms of junior pitcher
Jackson Snider and senior pitcher
Thomas Kierce would both work one scoreless frame apiece while combining for three total strikeouts, securing the 7-4 comeback victory for the Beacons.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Bostyn Burris finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs , a double, and a run scored, this is the junior's third three-hit, two-RBI game in his last four games
- In addition to Burris, Aidan Blake also recorded a three-hit game, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and run scored
- The UMass Boston bullpen went five total innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking none
- As a team, UMass Boston's pitching did not allow any walks for the first time this season and first time since May 6th, 2022 against Eastern Connecticut State University
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston continues their road trip with a big Little East Conference doubleheader against the University of Southern Maine scheduled for Saturday afternoon with game one slated for a noon start time. In their last matchup during the LEC Tournament, it was the Beacons coming out on top, 7-0, over the Huskies after an historic pitching performance by UMass Boston's
Alex Amalfi.
