Worcester, MA --- UMass Boston sophomore Jamill Moquette (Boston, MA/Madison Park Tech) had a bases clearing double in the third and freshman Collin Keefe (Charlotte, NC) crossed the plate three times as both helped propel the Beacons to a 9-2 victory over Worcester State in non-conference baseball action this afternoon at Rockwood Park.
UMB improves to 8-5 on the season while the Lancers slip to 4-13.
After two no-hit frames by the squads, it was Moquette's deep drive off the left field fence that emptied the bases and gave UMass Boston the early 3-0 advantage.
An inning later, the Beacons took advantage of a WSU fielding miscue as freshman Collin Keefer (Charlotte, NC) hit a high fly ball to left – with two outs in the inning – that was misjudged and dropped allowing senior Mike Mattei (Spencer, MA) and freshman Tyler Kirwan (Syracuse, NY) to cross the plate making the score 5-0.
Fourth-year Mike McCormack (Shelton, CT) drove home Keefer on a RBI single in the next at bat to push the UMB lead to 6-0 after the top of the fourth.
The Lancers' offense got on the board in the bottom of the stanza as four consecutive hits yielded two runs to cut the deficit to 6-2. Junior Nick Bonofiglio (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) hit a two-RBI double into the right center gap plating sophomore Joseph Carlier (Rockland, MA) and freshman Jeff Bolio (Oxford, MA).
WSU loaded the bases later on in the fourth with no outs, but failed to score as sophomore starting pitcher Will Barrack (Lancaster, VA) retired the side for the Beacons in his final frame of work.
UMass Boston tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth as McCormack hit a double into right center that scored Keefer – after his leadoff triple – to increase their lead to 7-2.
The Beacons added two more insurance runs over the course of the final three innings as Taylor Kapulka (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) forced a two-out walk with the bases loaded in the eighth to make the score 8-2. Freshman Luke Fischetti (Liverpool, NY) drove in the game's final run on a ninth inning double.
Second year Ryan Augustine (Burlington, CT) was credited with the win (1-0) as he pitched four scoreless relief innings, allowing four hits and fanning five. Barrack tossed the first four innings allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts and no walks. .
Freshman Eric Perez (Springfield, MA) was charged with the loss as he allowed six runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings of work to go along with seven free passes with a pair of punch outs. WSU used four relief pitchers over for the remainder of the game as they combined for four hits, three earned runs and four walks.
Keefer, McCormack and Moquette all had two hits for the Beacons. Carlier and senior Jack Rafferty (Thompson, CT) had a pair of base-knocks for the Blue and Gold as Rafferty and Bolio also finished with doubles.
The Beacons showed great plate discipline as they held the 12-1 advantage in the walk department. Worcester State had the slim 10-9 edge in hits.
Both teams open up conference play this Saturday on the road in 12 PM doubleheaders. The Lancers travel to Westfield State while UMass Boston will head to Eastern Connecticut State.