By Dylan Botelho, Staff Writer
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Men’s Baseball team split it’s games this week to finish 3-3. After 24 total games of play, the Corsairs sit with a 14-10 record. The Corsairs played a total of two games at home and four on the road, not finding more success on either fields as they also split both their home and road games.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Men’s Baseball team’s week began at home against Babson on Monday. The Beavers came in to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Baseball Field with a 16-7 record bolstered by a 9 game winning streak. The Beavers would extend their streak to 10 games after defeating the Corsairs 6-2.
After starting off extremely hot, the Corsairs have slightly lost their way. This loss marked the first time the Corsairs baseball team has lost three straight since April 29th to May 4th of last season when they lost four straight.
The Corsairs however, bounced back from their three game skid with a three game winning streak. The streak started on Tuesday April 10th, when the Corsairs headed on the road to face the Salem State Vikings. It was not an easy game for the Corsairs, but it did get them back on track. Down 4-0 against the Vikings heading into the 8th inning, the Corsairs chances looked extremely bleak. Junior Jose Vasquez however, was not ready to lose a fourth straight. Vasquez capped off the Corsairs comeback with a bases-clearing three-run double in the top of the ninth inning after the team had scored 3 priors in the eighth inning to win 6-5.
Close games would be a sort of trend for the Corsairs during their short win streak, as was the case in their next game at Roger Williams. A game that was rescheduled from March 27th, both teams came prepared to light up the scoreboard in a 13-12 Corsairs victory after eight innings. The Hawks made a late comeback just as the Corsairs did in the previous game but held off a 5-run eighth inning to secure the victory.
Taking on the Johnson & Wales Wildcats en route to a dominate 8-4 win. Finally, the Corsairs could be comfortable in a win, coming right out of the gate strong. The Corsairs tailed 3 runs in the first inning and then a fourth in the following inning. Finishing just as they started, the Corsairs tallied a run the seventh inning and then followed it up to close their game with two runs in the eighth inning.
Their win streak came crashing down however on Saturday during a double-header conference matchup at UMass Boston. The first game of the afternoon was extremely close, with UMass Boston defeating the Corsairs 2-1. After the Beacons scored the deciding run in the 8th inning, the Corsairs had one final chance to take the game back in the ninth. With runners on second and third, the Corsairs had a real chance to win but Mac Curran’s laser hit went straight to the Beacon’s second baseman, who caught it for the game’s final out.
The second of the two games would be much different. The Beacons got on the board first with a run in the first inning and then didn’t score again until the fifth inning, when they unloaded on the Corsairs. Scoring six in the fifth inning would prove to be too much for the Corsairs as they could only muster up three runs for the entire game leading to the 7-3 final.
UMass Dartmouth will have another double header ahead of them on Monday at Tufts University, scheduled for a 12:30 and 3:00 p.m. start.