Baseball Clips UMass Boston for 10th Straight Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 13 | 3 |
|
Mass.-Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
BOSTON -- Mitchell College scored 10 runs over the final four innings to best UMass Boston by a 10-6 final on Wednesday night in a non-conference baseball clash at Monan Park.
The Mariners, who improved to 14-5 on the season, won the first-ever meeting between the two teams to extend their winning streak to 10 games. Steven Pagan and Eric Marriott led the offense with three hits apiece, with the former knocking in four runs and the latter plating three. Right-hander Justin Lukas earned his first career victory with 3.0 innings of solid relief. He allowed two runs on one hit and struck out five.
Neither side yielded a run over the first three innings, but it was the host Beacons who got on the scoreboard first. They nicked Mitchell starter Ryan Solimine for a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Nick Cotraro. UMass Boston went up 2-0 in the fifth thanks to an RBI single by Kyle Boudrias that chased Solimine from the game. Lukas got the Mariners out of the frame without further damage, escaping a first-and-third situation by retiring the next two batters.
A two-run single by Pagan tied the game in the top of the sixth. Mitchell then pulled in front in the seventh on a two-run double down the left-field line by Marriott. Steve Cochrane followed with a triple to right to drive in Marriott and later scored on a single by Pagan to make it 6-2.
After UMass Boston got a run back in the home half of the seventh, Mitchell kept the pressure on by plating two in the eighth. Justin Johnson led off with a double and later scored on wild pitch. Pagan then tacked on his fourth RBI of the contest with a single up the middle to extend the lead to 8-3.
Lukas got the first out of the eighth before walking a batter and coming out of the game. Brian Ricker took over on the bump, and the Beacons quickly loaded the bases behind a pair of singles. Ricker recorded the second out of the frame via strikeout, although a walk forced in a run and brought the tying run to the plate. An errant pick-off throw then led to two more UMass Boston runs before Ricker punched out Eddie Riley to get out of the inning.
Mitchell bounced back for two runs in the ninth, fueled by a leadoff double by Peter Abate. Sam Majewski moved Abate to third with a single to right, and Anthony Diaz brought him home with a ground out to second. Majewski later scored Mitchell's final run of the ballgame on a sacrifice fly to center by Johnson.
Ricker fanned the first two UMass Boston batters in the ninth before issuing a walk. He then secured the final out by getting Ryan McCormick to ground out to short to end the game.
Mitchell's offense continues to rack up impressive numbers. During the 10-game winning streak the Mariners have scored in double digits in eight games while outscoring opponents to the tune of 152-16.
Mitchell returns to conference play at Dean College on Saturday, April 6 at noon.
