No. 6 Castleton 3, No. 5 UMass Dartmouth 2
The opening game of Day Two was a low scoring affair, bookended by scoring frames for the Spartans. Castleton got on the board in the bottom of the third when Jackson Cardozo drove in Tyler McLain with a single to left. The Spartans trailed 2-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh, where Brandon Ramirez doubled to center to plate Cardozo and Hunter Perkins with game-tying and game-winning runs.
Brayden Howrigan went the distance on the hill for Castleton, allowing one earned run on four hits and three walks while racking up nine Ks. He evened his record at 3-3 with the decision.
The Corsairs took advantage of some Spartan miscues in the field to score both their runs. An error following Brett Baker’s sacrifice bunt allowed Matt Tempone to score all the way from first in the top of the sixth, and a Howrigan wild pitch allowed Andrew Bryant to score in the top of the seventh, giving UMass Dartmouth a 2-1 lead.
Ryan Qualey fell to 2-4 after allowing three runs on seven hist and four free passes over 6.1 innings. He also totaled nine strikeouts.
No. 4 UMass Boston 9, No. 1 Rhode Island College 3
The Beacons led 3-2 heading to the top of the fifth, where the broke the game open with a five-spot to open an 8-2 advantage. Gianni Zarrilli, Jr. delivered the big blow that started the scoring in the fifth, launching a three-run homer over the right field fence. Luke Leavitt stole second and then scored as the throw from Dylan Iannuccilli got away. That allowed Breon Parker to advance to third, and he headed home on Bostyn Burris’ single to right.
The host Anchormen had limited chances to get back in the game from there, and managed just one run in the top of the eight when Cal Parrillo scored on a ground out by Sean Helfrich to Zarrilli, Jr. at shortstop.
Ross Dexter allowed just two runs on seven hits while registering nine strikeouts over his six innings of work, improving his record to 4-3. Josh Garner followed, yielding an unearned run while striking out two batters over the next two innings before Sam Gray stranded a pair of runners in the ninth to close out the UMass Boston victory.
Terry Murray fell to 8-2 for Rhode Island College after getting touched up for all nine Beacon runs (seven earned) on 14 hits while striking out just four batters over his six innings. Brenden Aldridge tossed two scoreless inning of relief for RIC.
No. 2 Eastern Connecticut 4, No. 3 Southern Maine 2
The game was scoreless heading to the sixth inning, as both starters worked out of some early jams. The Warriors quickly loaded the bases in the top of the frame for Noah Plantamuro, who cleared the bases with his triple to the gap in right. He then scored on Zach Donahue’s triple to left, and Donahue went home on a single to left off the bat of Jason Claiborn.
The Huskies attempted a late rally in the bottom of the ninth, but were unable to come all the way back. Chris Quigley and Tom Vesosky both doubled and scored with two outs in the frame, which saw Kyle Douin standing on third following his triple to left and Jason Komulainen standing at the dish as the potential game-tying run. Nolan Lincoln ended the threat by striking out Komulainen to secure the Eastern victory.
Dan Driscoll improved to 8-3 after seven scoreless innings as he scattered nine hist an notched five Ks. Clay Robbins took the loss for USM, allowing four runs on eight hits and six walks over 5.2 innings as his record dropped to 5-3.