PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The road to the 2023 Little East Conference Championship is simple for UMass Boston Baseball at this point. Just keep winning. The fourth-seeded Beacons did just that on Friday afternoon against sixth-seeded Castleton University in the third day of the LEC Tournament, punching their ticket to championship Saturday with a dominant 13-1 victory over the Spartans in seven innings.
But UMass Boston still faces an uphill battle on Saturday, needing to win two games to capture their fifth Little East Conference title in program history. The outcome of the Rhode Island College-Eastern Connecticut game this evening will determine the road to the title for the Beacons. Should Eastern Connecticut win tonight, UMass Boston would play the Warriors twice tomorrow and need sweep them at noon and 3:00 PM. But if Rhode Island College is victorious, UMass Boston will take on the Anchormen at noon and with a win face Eastern Connecticut for the LEC title at 3:00 PM.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 13, Castleton University 1 (7 Innings)
UMass Boston (24-17)
Castleton University (18-22)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Eight runs would come across the plate for the Beacons across the first three innings as freshman outfielder
Justin Gouveia led off the game with a solo home run, his second of the season, off junior pitcher Aubrey Ramey to put UMass Boston on the scoreboard first, 1-0. Gouveia tacked on another run as part of the three-run second inning for the Beacons with an RBI single up the middle while senior catcher
Craig Corliss added a solo home run and junior outfielder
Luke Leavitt made his presence felt with an RBI groundout that helped UMass Boston seize a 4-0 lead early on.
A four-run third inning would break the doors open on the affair as back-to-back doubles from senior infielder
Aidan Blake and Corliss pushed UMass Boston's lead to six runs and then a two-out error during freshman infielder
Breon Parker's at-bat by graduate shortstop Ryan Lawrence, who gave the Spartans their only run of the afternoon with an RBI groundout, allowed two more runs to score in what quickly ballooned to an 8-0 edge for the Beacons.
Blake would tack on another run as part of his 2-for-4 afternoon with an RBI double in the fifth and another four-run inning, this time in the sixth frame would bring UMass Boston into 10-run mercy rule territory. With his second home run in as many days, senior infielder
Drew Metzdorf led off the inning with a solo home run and then a two-run single by senior infielder
Nick Palma later on would see to it that the Beacons held a 12-1 advantage with only one out. Leavitt capped off the scoring for UMass Boston in the very next at-bat, rocketing an RBI triple to score Palma while graduate pitcher
Josh Eastman did the rest on the mound.
En route to their 13-1 victory, it was Eastman who got the ball and pitched spectacularly for the Beacons who were able to save their entire bullpen for Saturday's potential pair of games. Spinning all seven innings, Eastman allowed just one run on nine hits while striking out eight and walking two to get his third win of the season and provide a much-needed day off for the pitching staff with UMass Boston needing two wins tomorrow to capture the LEC Championship.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Craig Corliss was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day with a single, double, home run, two RBIs, and three runs scored – falling just a triple short of the cycle
- Drew Metzdorf also fell a triple short of the cycle after going 3-fo-r4 with a single, double, home run, an RBI, and three runs scored
- As a team, eight of the nine UMass Boston starters recorded a hit with six recording multi-hit games
- UMass Boston is now 9-0 all-time against Castleton University since they joined the conference back in 2019
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston heads into championship Saturday needing to win two games in order to capture the Little East Conference Championship. The winner of the final game today between top-seeded Rhode Island College and two-seeded Eastern Connecticut will decide the Beacons' path tomorrow for their noon game with a win necessary to play a second game at 3:00 PM for the LEC crown.
A win by Rhode Island College tonight would set up a rematch between UMass Boston and the Anchormen at noon tomorrow and with a win see the Beacons move to the 3:00 PM championship game against Eastern Connecticut. However, a win by the Warriors would mean UMass Boston needs to take two games from Eastern Connecticut tomorrow at noon and 3:00 PM with a loss in the first game giving the Warriors the LEC Championship.
