BOSTON - Top-seeded UMass Boston and second-seeded Eastern Connecticut State Univrsity were both victorious on the opening day of the 2024 Little East Conference (LEC) Championship Tournament, which saw two of the three scheduled games played due to inclement weather. Game 3 of the tournament featuring third-seeded UMass Dartmouth and fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine was pushed back to Thursday at noon. 

No. 1 UMass Boston 11, No. 6 Rhode Island College 3 - Courtesy of UMass Boston Athletics

Beacons' sophomore outfielder Justin Gouveia added five of the Beacons' 11 runs in their round one, 11-3 victory in the 2024 Little East Conference Tournament over the Rhode Island College Anchormen from the opening game at Monan Park in a rainy Wednesday afternoon.

Junior right-handed pitcher Ross Dexter started on the mound for the Beacons in game one and stood on business for five of the nine innings played for his fourth win in seven appearances. Dexter punched out five batters against the 22 he faced and allowed just three runs on six hits with no walks. Sophomore reliever Justin DeFalco, and seniors Thomas Kierce and Brandon Ferrari each made an appearance to close out game one. As a bullpen, the Beacs combined for seven strikeouts in 38 Anchormen at-bats.

Gouveia led the way for the Beacons from the plate with four hits in five appearances including five RBI off two doubles and a home run. Gouveia was involved in seven of the Beacs' 11 runs in the opening win to protect home field. Sophomore Max Garner batted 100% in two appearances with a run scored and two RBI including a sacrifice fly.

Rhode Island College jumped out in the fifth inning to grab a two-nothing lead following a pair of hits from the Anchormen that scored one run off a single to left, and another off a double to right field.

The Beacons responded with authority and dominance in the next half inning, scoring seven runs as a response in the bottom of the fifth inning, and another unanswered run in the sixth inning. Senior Aidan Blake kicked things off with a sac-fly to center field to bring in Gouveia for the Beacons' first of the game. Junior Mariano Jimenez would follow suit with a double down the right field line to score senior Bostyn Burris to level the scoring at two. Garner's single to right field scored first-year Brandon Gaer from third and almost scored Jimenez from Second but he was gunned down from left field on the run at the plate. Sophomore Breon Parker kept the two-out rally alive with a single up the middle to score two runs, junior Mike Meagher and Garner. Gouveia topped things off in the fifth inning with another double through the left side to score Parker and first-year Elliot Miles.

Gouveia would put the cherry on top for the Beacons in the seventh inning with a three-run home run to score himself with senior Luke Leavitt, and Miles for the Beacons' ninth, 10th, and 11th runs of the games.

No. 2 Eastern Connecticut 8, No. 5 Keene State 5 - Courtesy of Eastern Connecticut Athletics

Junior lefty Dan Driscoll (Waterford) provided solid pitching in his first start in over a month and senior third baseman Tiernan Lynch (Easton) helped the second-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team to an early lead with a third-inning three-run home run in an eventual 8-5 victory over fifth-seeded Keene State College on the opening day of the 2024 Little East Conference tournament Wednesday evening at Monan Park.

 
Because rain delays postponed Wednesday's third game, two-time defending tournament champion Eastern (28-11) does not play its second game in the six-team, double-elimination tournament hosted by top-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston until Friday at noon, when it meets the winner of Thursday's first game – originally scheduled to be the late game Wednesday -- between third-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine.
 
Keene meets sixth-seeded Rhode Island College in an elimination game Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The Anchormen, last year's top seed and host, were dumped by UMass Boston, 11-3, in Wednesday's first game.
 
The Eastern-Keene game was halted by rain and lightning twice, the second time with Keene batting in the top of the seventh inning and trailing, 5-2. Just prior to the second rain delay, Keene had scored its second run of the game and had the bases loaded and two out, with Eastern senior righty Nolan Lincoln (Londonderry, NH) set to face UMass Boston sophomore shortstop Otis Follet, the Owls'  left-handed hitting cleanup hitter and team batting leader.
 
When the game resumed following a 60-minute delay, Lincoln fanned Follet on a 3-2 pitch, but not before throwing a wild pitch (the staff's only WP of the game) on a 1-2 count that brought home Hamilton Barnes from third and cut Eastern's lead to 5-3.
 
Looking for its ninth straight LEC tournament win over three seasons, No. 22-nationally-ranked Eastern  led 4-0 after three innings – three of the runs coming on a third-inning rally which began with two out and nobody on base and was courtesy of Lynch's second home run of the season off Keene sophomore lefty starter Jake Jachym – a three-run blast over the Green Monster in left. It was only the third homer allowed by Jachym this year in 50-plus innings.
 
On a hit-by-pitch, single and double steal in the sixth, Keene got one back by also scoring after there were two out and none on off Driscoll, who gave up his first run after 12 2/3 scoreless innings in two starts in LEC tournament play over two years.
 
Eastern got the run right back on leadoff hitter Zach Donahue's (South Windsor) RBI double in the sixth that plated No. 9 hitter Jason Claiborn (Prospect) and took a 5-1 lead into the seventh.
 
Driscoll departed with a 5-1 lead after fanning nine and allowing four hits and two walks through six innings, throwing 104 pitches. Making his third start this year against Eastern, Jachym pitched the first six innings before giving way to freshman lefty George Young after the Owls had closed to within 5-3. Jachym was charged with four earned runs on seven hits and three walks while fanning one.
 
After Young pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, Eastern added three key pad runs in the bottom of the eighth  -- all unearned -- that  made it 8-3 heading into the ninth. Three throwing errors by Young on a sacrifice bunt, failed pickoff and potential inning-ending ground ball, along with an opening double to right by Lynch and one-hop RBI ground rule double to right-center by senior first baseman Ryan Parent (Southington) sparked the rally.
 
In the top of the ninth, Keene continued to threaten, pushing across two runs without the aid of a hit and bringing the tying run to the plate twice. Sophomore righty Dylan Scudder (Simsbury)  took over after Lincoln put the first two runners aboard on a hit batter and walk. The 6-foot-7 inch Scudder promptly hit two of the first three batters he faced – leaving the staff one HBP shy of the program's game record of seven -- but got a strikeout and an infield ground ball to Donahue for the first two outs and struck out Brendan Eaton – representing the tying run – on four pitches to give Eastern its tenth win in a row over Keene – third this year.
 
While the six HBPs by four Eastern pitchers kept the Owls within striking distance – especially over the last three innings – the staff gave up only four walks and six hits – all singles – while striking out 14 – five over the last three innings. Five Keene errors were costly and made half of Eastern's runs unearned. The teams combined to strand 19 runners, ten by Keene.
 
Parent and Lynch each had two hits and combined for five RBI, with Lynch also scoring two runs.
 
Donahue's sixth-inning double extended his on-base streak to 33 games, while Claiborn chalked up his 200^th career hit with a double in the team's three-run third inning.