MANSFIELD, Conn.  – Alex Almalfi struck out 18 and Aidan Blake drove in three runs to lead the third seed UMass Boston Beacons to a 7-0 shut out win over the fourth-seed University of Southern Maine Huskies in game three of the Little East Conference (LEC) baseball tournament at the Eastern Baseball Stadium Wednesday night.
 
Almalfi set a UMB record for strikeouts in a game besting the previous mark of 16 to pick up the win for the Beacons. Almalfi pitched seven innings allowing three hits and a pair of walks for his eighth win of the season. The win ends a two-game skid for UMB improving to 25-15.  USM drops to 21-18 in the loss.
 
THE BASICS:
Records:
Southern Maine (23-18)
UMass Boston (25-15)
 
Score: 
No. 3 UMass Boston 7, No. 4 Southern Maine 0
 
Pitching: USM UMB
Winning Pitcher:  UMB, Alex Almalfi (8-4), 7.0 IP, 0 runs, 3 hits, 2 walks, 18 strikeouts
Losing Pitcher:  SM, James Sinclair (4-5), 6.0 IP, 5 runs, 10 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
Save: None
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Southern Maine  UMass Boston

• Almalfi started out strong striking out the side and had 10 consecutive strikeouts from the first through the fourth inning giving up a single walk to lead off the second.
• The Beacons got on the board in the bottom of the second.  Craig Corliss led off the inning with a single to left, and then advanced to third on a Thomas Cue single to right. Nico Kydes had a sacrifice fly to center for an RBI to score Corliss for the 1-0 lead.
• UMB added a run to its tally in the third, fourth and fifth inning to lead 4-0. Blake collected the first of his three RBI with a single to right as part of a three-hit third. In the fourth, Cue tripled to center and scored on an RBI ground out from Kydes for a 3-0 lead. In the fifth, Drew Metzdorf homered to left to lead off the inning and give UMB a 4-0 advantage.
• The score remained unchanged until the bottom of the seventh when UMB tacked on three runs for a 7-0 led. Blake had a two-run single to center and then stole home three batters later.
• Between Almalfi, and UMB relievers Ross Dexter and Thomas Kierce the Beacons pitchers combined for 22 strikeouts against Husky batters.
• Limited to three hits, USM juniors Tom Vesosky (Colchester, Vermont) and Jonathan Wilson (East Granby, Conn.) and senior Brogan Searle-Belanger (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) each had singles.

UP NEXT:
Southern Maine continues on in the 2022 Little East Conference Baseball Championship.  The Huskies will face no. 1 seed Eastern Connecticut State on Thursday (3:30 pm). 
 
Hosted by No. 1 seed Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors, the 2022 LEC Regular Season Champions, the top six teams in the final regular season standing qualify for the double-elimination championship tournament.
 
The 2022 Little East Conference Champion will receive the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, beginning with Regional Championships starting May 20. Sixty teams will be selected for the championship field. The NCAA will host an online selection show on May 16 (12:00 pm EST) announcing participating teams and regional sites.
 
2022 Little East Conference Baseball Championship Bracket
Game times will be Noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Game 1: No. 1 Eastern Connecticut vs. No. 6 Plymouth State – ECSU 6-0
Game 2:  No. 2 Rhode Island College vs. No. 5 UMass Dartmouth – RIC, 8-6
Game 3: No. 3 UMass Boston vs. No. 4 Southern Maine – UMB, 7-0
 
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Game 4: No. 6 Plymouth State vs. No. 5 UMass Dartmouth, 12:00
Game 5: No. 1 Eastern Connecticut vs. No. 4 Southern Maine, 3:30
Game 6: No. 2  Rhode Island College vs. No. 3 UMass Boston, 7:00
 
If four teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:
 
Friday, May 13, 2022
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
 
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9
Game 11: If Necessary: Same teams as in Game 10
 
If five teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:
 
Friday, May 13, 2022
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6 Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7
 
If two teams remain after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed:
 
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9
Game 11: If Necessary: Same teams as Game 10
 
If three teams remain after Game 9, the following procedure will be observed:
 
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10