Western New England Rallies Past UMass Dartmouth, 6-5

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior Bryan Previte (Darien, Conn.) came through with a pinch-hit, two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting the Western New England University baseball team to a 6-5, comeback victory over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth this afternoon in non-conference action at Trelease Park.

Trailing 4-1 after UMass Dartmouth (9-12, 1-3 LEC) scored twice in the top of the sixth inning, the Golden Bears (16-4, 4-0 CCC) rallied with five late runs to extend their winning streak to six games.

After three scoreless frames, Western New England struck first in the bottom of the fourth when
freshman Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.) singled to right center field, scoring senior Eduardo Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) from second base.

Senior Chris Casey (Milford, Mass.), who was making just his fourth career start and ninth overall appearance on the mound for the Golden Bears, made it through the first four innings unscathed before running into trouble in the top of the fifth.

Casey plunked the leadoff batter, sophomore Mac Curran (Lakeville, Mass.), and proceeded to give up a bloop double down the right field line to sophomore Jose Vasquez (Roxbury, Mass.), putting two runners in scoring position. Freshman Ryan Ainslie (Weymouth, Mass.) came up next and tied the game with a sacrifice fly, and sophomore Josh O'Neill (Halifax, Mass.) followed with an RBI single, giving the visitors a 2-1 edge.

UMass Dartmouth tacked on two more runs in the top of the sixth to open up a 4-1 lead, but the Golden Bears answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Colmenares led off and was hit by a pitch, while senior Doug Milne (Nesconset, N.Y.) followed with a single up the middle. After both runners advanced into scoring position on a groundout, freshman Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.) came up in a key spot with two outs and delivered a two-run single to left field, cutting the Golden Bears' deficit to one (4-3).

Western New England still trailed by one (5-4) heading into the bottom of the eighth, as each team pushed one run across in the seventh inning. The first two Golden Bears flied out in the eighth, but Loparco worked a walk to get the rally started. The freshman advanced into scoring position with the help of a failed pickoff attempt, before crossing the plate on senior catcher Matt Calzone's (Middlebury, Conn.) game-tying, two-out double down the left field line.

With the go-ahead run now at second base, Previte came on as a pinch-hitter and laced a 3-2 pitch through the left side of the infield, allowing Calzone to score as the Golden Bears took a 6-5 lead. Previte is now a perfect 4-for-4 in pinch hit opportunities this spring.

Senior reliever Matt Fedor (Monroe, Conn.), who tossed a scoreless eighth inning after coming on for junior Matt Thomas (Plainville, Conn.), worked around a two-out single in the ninth to earn his first win of the season.