PLYMOUTH, N.H. – After the UMass Boston Baseball bats were silenced less than 24 hours earlier at home, the Beacons' offense came to life in a big way against Plymouth State University on Thursday, striking for 18 runs in their Little East Conference matchup and picking up a momentous 18-5 win over the Panthers heading into their big doubleheader against conference leading Rhode Island College on Friday at home.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 18, Plymouth State University 5
UMass Boston (20-13, 8-3 LEC)
Plymouth State University (10-17, 2-9 LEC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After being held scoreless for 11 consecutive innings, UMass Boston struck for seven runs right off the bat in the first inning to take full control of the game. Anchored by five RBI singles coming from senior infielders
Aidan Blake,
Gianni Zarrilli Jr., and
Nick Palma along with junior infielder
Bostyn Burris and freshman outfielder
Joey Morrison, the Beacons quickly took a 5-0 lead with still nobody out in the inning. The last two runs of the frame would come via passed ball and fielder's choice.
Senior infielder Bryan McGrath would cut the Panthers' deficit to six runs with an RBI single in the third, but the UMass Boston offense went right back to work with eight unanswered runs in the next two innings to take their largest lead of the game at 14-runs. A pair of two-run singles from Morrison and fellow freshman outfielder
Breon Parker highlighted the fourth inning while a pair of doubles from Morrison and junior outfielder
Luke Leavitt and an RBI groundout from Palma made it a 15-1 lead.
Making his second start of the season, senior pitcher
Josh Eastman had another solid outing, going four innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out seven and walking four. Eastman would earn the victory, moving to 2-0 on the mound this season.
UMass Boston would get three more runs on the board in the sixth after two home runs by Plymouth State in the fifth made it a 15-5 ballgame, but once again the Beacon bats would go to work with a two-run double by Zarrilli Jr. and a sacrifice fly by Morrison to regain a 13-run advantage, 18-5.
Freshman pitcher
Justin DeFalco would polish off the final three innings for the Beacons in relief of Eastman, notching his first career save, giving up one run on two hits along with three strikeouts as UMass Boston snapped their three-game losing streak with an 18-5 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Joey Morrison finished the game with a 3-for-4 day, driving in a team-high and career-high six RBIs in the win while scoring twice
- Aidan Blake also had a three-hit game, bringing in two runs and scoring four times
- Eight of the nine UMass Boston starters recorded a hit with four recording multi-hit games
- UMass Boston has won five of their last six games against Plymouth State dating back to the 2021 season
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston prepares for a big Little East Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon against Rhode Island College with game one scheduled to start at noon. The Anchormen currently lead the LEC with a record of 10-1 meaning a sweep for the Beacons would place them in a three-way tie with Rhode Island College and Eastern Connecticut at 10-3 with three games remaining in conference play.
