No. 1 Rhode Island College 10, No. 6 Castleton 0 (7 Innings)
The opening game of the tournament was never in doubt, as the 2023 LEC regular season champs plated five runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Izaiah Rivera delivered the biggest blow in the opening frame with a bases-clearing triple that capped the scoring in the inning. Lucas McElroy drove in the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth to bring the LEC mercy rule into effect. 

That was all the offense the RIC pitching staff would need, as Shaun Gamelin and Brenden Aldridge combined on the shutout. Gamelin improved to 9-1 on the season after scattering five hits while fanning 10 batters over the first six innings, while Aldridge sat down one of the three batters he faced in the seventh. 

Rivera was 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, three RBI and a run scored for the Anchormen, while Cam Santerre was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Cal Parillo also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and two runs scored.

Riley Orr allowed 10 runs (eight earned) on seven hits with six Ks in his five-plus innings of work as his record fell to 4-5.

No. 2 Eastern Connecticut 10, No. 5 UMass Dartmouth 3
The defending conference champion Warriors scored nine consecutive runs on their way to defeating the Corsairs in the first game of the tournament for the two teams. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, Alejandro Soriano knotted the score by driving in Jason Claibord and Matt Malcom with his bases-loaded single to right. Zach Donoahue put Eastern out in front for good with his two-run blast in the bottom of the second, before the Warriors broke the game open with five-run fifth. 

UMass Dartmouth got on the board quickly in the top of the first, with Andrew Bryant driving in DJ Perron before later heading home on a wild pitch charged to Eastern starter Matthew Wootton. The Corsairs were held off the board until the top of the seventh when Perron’s single to left drove in TJ Keefe from second. UMD had runners on second and third with two away later that frame before Andrew Possi grounded out to short to end the threat. 

Ray Leonzi was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and one RBI for the Warriors, while Soriano finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, three RBI and a run. Wootton improved to 6-1 after allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out eight over his six innings of work. 

Adam Maher dropped to 4-3 for the Corsairs after giving up six runs on six hits and five free passes over 4.1 innings. Perron finished the day 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

No. 3 Southern Maine 14, No. 4 UMass Boston 4
The Huskies used a trio of big innings midway through the game to record the 10-run rule victory over the Beacons in seven innings. They put four runs on the board in the bottom of the third to overcome an early 2-1 deficit, with two runs coming home on Cam Seymour’s double to center.  Southern Maine then broke the game open with a six-run fourth that was capped off by a two-run blast off the bat of Jonathan Wilson. 

Wilson’s homer ended the day for UMass Boston starter Dillon Ryan (4-4), who gave up 11 runs on 11 hits over three-plus innings. Brendan Ferrari surrendered a one-out, three-run bomb to Brogan Searle-Belanger to cap the scoring in the game. 
Bryce Aftim (5-3) got the win on the hill after allowing four runs on six hits with six Ks over his six innings of work before giving way to
Lucas Francis, who faced just four batters in a scoreless seventh. 

Jason Komulainen went 2-for-2 with a solo homer and scored three times for the Huskies, while Searle-Belanger finished the day 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, five RBI and two runs scored. Kyle Douin was 3-for-5 with a solo blast and three runs scored. 

Luke Leavitt was 2-for-2 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored the lead UMass Boston. Drew Metzdorf was 1-for-4 with a solo homer in the fifth.