UMass Boston Baseball Settles For Conference Split With Western Conn. State

BOSTON, Mass. – After earning their first conference win of the 2016 season with a 4-2 come-from-behind victory, baseball was forced to settle for their first conference split of the year as well, as Western Connecticut State University earned an 11-1 in 8 innings in game two Saturday afternoon at Monan Park.

THE BASICS
GM1 – UMass Boston 4, Western Connecticut State U. 2
GM2 – UMass Boston 1, Western Connecticut State U. 11 (8 inns.)
UMass Boston (10-9, 1-1 Little East Conference)
Western Conn. State U. (6-8, 1-1 Little East Conference)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite the split, the Beacons got two solid outings by their starters in Dan Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) and JT Morin (Wilton, Conn.).  The duo combined for 14 strikeouts in the doubleheader, and allowed just three runs in 13.1 innings respectively.

Saturday's doubleheader was supposed to be played at Western Connecticut State was moved to
Monan Park earlier in the week, with the Beacons playing as the visitors, while the Colonials were the home team on the scoreboard.

GAME 1
Trailing 2-0 through seven, the Beacons got their first run of the afternoon in the top of the 8^th thanks to an RBI double from Anthony Searles (Shelton, Conn.), which plated Charlie Huegi (Sandy Hook, Conn.), who entered the game as a pinch hitter.

After Bobby Tramondozzi (Peabody, Mass.) held the Colonials scoreless in the bottom half of the eighth, the Beacons took advantage of multiple errors and poor fielding choices by WCSU to take a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Manny Garcia (Boston, Mass.) came in to close out the final inning, which he did in dominating fashion allowing just one hit, while striking out one two his second save of the year.

At the plate the Beacons could only muster together three hits in the conference win, while WCSU combined for six hits, with Chris Callahan going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.  Tramondozzi earned his second win (2-1), while the loss went to Todd Lyons (1-2), who went 8.1 and threw a combined 125 pitches.  The starter did manage seven strikeouts.
GAME 2

In the nightcap, it was another pitcher's duel as Morin went pitch-for-pitch with WCSU's Shane Bierfeldt.  The Beacons grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Ryan Olivo (Rochester, N.Y.).

For a while it looked like that was all Morin was going to need to lead his team to the sweep. 
However, as the lefty's pitch total began to rise, the Colonials were able to make consistent contact.  WCSU got on the board in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by John Kelly.

They would then come back in the eighth and scored a combined 10 runs to earn the conference's 10-run mercy rule victory as they defeated the Beacons 11-1.  Garcia made his second appearance of the night, but was not nearly as effective as he was handed the loss, his first of the year.

Shawn Nadeau picked-up the victory after going two innings.  Bierfeldt went six strong innings and allowed the one run on four hits, and had a game-high nine K's.  Bryan Harper led the offense as he went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI.

BY THE NUMBERS

• All-time UMass Boston still leads the series with WCSU 26-16-1
• On the year Morin and Mantoni now stand with ERA's of 2.81 and 2.35 respectively
• Morin leads the Beacons with 33 strikeouts, followed by Mantoni who has 21
• Mantoni remains the lone Beacon who is hitting over .300 on the year