Beacons Baseball
The Beacons Baseball program is off to the NCAA Regional Tournament. After losing in the LEC semifinals, University of Massachusetts Boston was presented an at-large bid by the NCAA. They were awarded the bid in large part because of their incredible record in the second half of the season, going 17 and 1 in their last 18 regular season games. This earned them the number three power ranking in the region during that stretch.
Moving into the postseason, the Beacons will be a number five seed. UMass Boston faces their first opponent, Haverford College, at 10 a.m. this Wednesday, in Moosic, Pennsylvania. In the history of the program, this is the second tournament appearance for the Beacons. Head Coach Brendan Eygabroat is ecstatic to see his team reach this kind of success.
“It’s exciting to reach the (NCAA) tournament… Despite the loss to Western, we managed to still get in,” said Eygabroat. “These guys earned themselves a spot. Moving into the postseason we were definitely one of the hottest teams in the nation.”
If the Beacons expect to perform well, Eygabroat needs to find the right pitching matchup come May 18. While their pitching has been extremely reliable throughout the season, some of the bullpen looked extremely worn down during the semi-final match, where UMass Boston was eliminated by Western Connecticut State University. JT Morin is a potential starter, as the lefty has been incredible in his starts during regular season and postseason.  Morin has 5 wins in his 8 starts, and 1 save on the year. In his 54 innings pitched, the Freshman stud has an ERA of 3.79 and exactly 60 strikeouts. The six-foot-two-inch youngin’ is a monster on the mound.
Regardless of whether or not Morin starts, the pitching needs to be spot on against a team like Haverford. On the year, Haverford has been a consistent top 10 team in the region, posting a 27-12 overall record. The team is seeded as the number four team in the tournament, but neither team is heavily favored in the matchup.
The Tournament’s winner will enter into the NCAA Super Regionals as the next step of their National Championship question. Hopefully, the Beacons can carry their late season’s momentum in order to keep their postseason dreams alive.