The Beacons were in a sub-par place in the season at 6–7, with a doubleheader against the two-win Western Connecticut State Wolves at home Friday, March 22. (1)
It was senior left-hander Connor Gannon for the Wolves vs. junior right-hander Ross Dexter for UMass Boston in game one. The Wolves got two runs on the board first in the second inning with a pair of singles and hit-by-pitches. The Beacons were able to pull one back off Luke Leavitt’s double that brought first-year catcher Brandon Gaer home from second, but they couldn’t get much after that, leaving Leavitt on base heading into the third inning.
WestConn extended the lead to 3–1 in the fourth, but the fifth inning saw UMass Boston blow the doors open. Senior infielder Bostyn Burris grounded out to first, allowing Leavitt to score from third to cut the Wolves’ deficit to 3–2. Senior infielder Aidan Blake stepped up to the plate and raked a Runs Batted In single through the center field gap to score freshman outfielder Justin Gouveia from second to even the scoring at three apiece. Gaer’s single to center gave Blake enough room to score from second to take the lead 4–3 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Beacons locked up on defense for the rest of the contest and held their lead far into the eighth inning. In the eighth, UMass Boston put the Wolves to bed, starting with freshman Breon Parker’s single to right field to score junior Mike Meagher and advance sophomore Nick Farnacci to third. Parker and Farnacci at the corners now, both got the call for a double steal. Parker beat the throw to second, advancing Farnacci to home safely for the double steal at second and at the plate, stretching the lead to 7–3. Gouveia’s sacrifice fly brought Parker home for the final run of the game, according to Beacons Athletics. (2)
Later, at 4 p.m., the two teams took the field for a second time. This time, it was graduate right-hander Max Moss for the Beacons against Barry Zachary for the Wolves. (1)
The Beacons struck first in the second inning, following an RBI single to right field from Gouveia that brought Parker home to score. The third inning passed for both teams unscathed, as no runs were recorded. In the fourth, the Wolves got one back following an RBI single of their own.
UMass Boston blew the door open again in the next three innings. In the fourth inning, Farnacci hit a triple into right field to score Meagher, and first-year shortstop Elliot Miles hit a sacrifice fly-out to left field, allowing Blake to tag up and score. In the fifth inning, Meagher hit a solo blast for his third home run of the season, as UMass Boston headed into the sixth with a commanding 5–1 lead. UMass Boston tallied two more runs to sweep the doubleheader with a 7–2 win, per Beacons Athletics. (3)
Next, the Beacons traveled to Medford, Mass. to take on the Tufts University Jumbos. They were in a similar situation as the Beacons, being one game above 500 at 7–6. Freshman Ethan Hunt started on the mound for UMass Boston against Tufts’ Michael O’Brien. (1)
UMass Boston got the bats going immediately to start the game, with two runs off of RBIs from Blake and Gaer. Tufts would strike back with a run of their own, but the Beacons held onto their 2–1 lead.
UMass Boston added another run in the third, and there was no scoring until the sixth, with Parker scoring on a Jumbos’ error at shortstop. Tufts responded quickly with an RBI single through the left-side gap to bring the scoring to 4–2. However, the Beacons scored two more runs to end the game, only allowing one run from Tufts to win 6–3, according to Beacons Athletics. (4)
With this win streak, the Beacons sat at 9–7, their next home game on Tuesday, April 2 against Eastern Nazarene College. (1)
- https://beaconsathletics.com/sports/baseball/schedule
- https://beaconsathletics.com/news/2024/3/22/baseball-outlasts-wolves-in-game-one-of-conference-opening-double-header.aspx
- https://beaconsathletics.com/news/2024/3/22/softball-baseball-completes-the-sweep-against-wolves-of-western-connecticut-in-7-2-win-in-game-two.aspx
- https://beaconsathletics.com/news/2024/3/27/baseball-secures-jumbo-sized-w-in-medford.aspx