Box Score Little East Conference Tournament - Game Six
UMass Dartmouth Defeats Southern Maine 8-3
MANSFIELD, Conn. -- Junior Cory DeMedeiros (Fall River, Mass./Durfee) drove in five runs with a home run and a double as the third-seeded University of Dartmouth Corsairs remained unbeaten in the 2014 Little East Conference tournament by defeating the second-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies, 8-3, Thursday night at the ECSU Baseball Stadium. The tournament is being hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University.
The nationally-ranked Huskies, 1-1 in the tournament, will have to come through the losers' bracket to win their third straight LEC championship. The Huskies, 29-11 overall, will face an elimination game Friday (2:30 p.m.) afternoon against sixth-seeded Rhode Island College. The Corsairs, 21-20 overall and coached by former USM All-American Bob Prince, will take on top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University in the winners bracket game Friday morning (11:00 a.m.). Thursday night's USM-UMD game was a re-match of last year's LEC championship game.
DeMedeiros gave the Corsairs the lead hitting a two-out, three-run round tripper in the third inning to erase a 2-0 deficit. He knocked in two insurance runs in the ninth inning with a double.
Junior Alberto Vasquez (Roxbury, Mass./O'Bryant) led the Corsairs' 12-hit attack with a double and two singles. Junior Ryan Medeiros (Acushnet, Mass./New Bedford) had two hits and scored a pair of runs. Sophomore Steve Colella (Leominster, Mass.) hurled 7.2 innings to pick up his fifth straight win. He allowed three runs on six hits and three walks while fanning six. Senior Karney Boff (North Dighton, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) retired all four hitters he faced to earn his third save of the season.
Senior Chris Bernard (Scarborough, Maine) and sophomore Nick DiBiase (Portland, Maine/Deering) had two hits apiece for the Huskies. Sophomore left-hander Tyler Leavitt (North Andover, Mass.) was saddled with his third loss against seven wins. Leavitt went five-plus innings giving up four runs on six hits and one walk while striking out five.
Southern Maine grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI triple by senior Troy Thibodeau (Danvers, Mass.) that drove in Bernard, and an RBI sacrifice bunt by junior Jake Glauser (Goffstown, N.H.).
The Corsairs struck back in the third to take the lead. With two outs, Medeiros and junior George Agostini (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) singled in front of DeMedeiros. DeMedeiros drove a 1-2 offering from Leavitt over the right-field fence for his third homer of the season and a 3-2 lead.
USM tied the game in the fifth when Glauser, who led off the inning with a double, scored on a ground out by rookie Paul McDonough (Wells, Maine).
The Corsairs responded in the top of the sixth. DeMedeiros, who walked to lead off the inning, scored the go ahead run on a double by Monteiro that ended Leavitt's night.
UMD made it 5-3 scoring an unearned run in the eighth inning on junior Alex Newton's (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) double down the left-field line. USM loaded the bases against Colella in the home half of the inning, but Boff came on to get a groundout to end the threat.
DeMedeiros drove in two insurance runs in the ninth, and scored a third on a double by Vasquez.
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