KEENE, N.H. - Two of the top-three seeds were victorious on the first day of competition at the 2025 Little East Conference (LEC) Baseball Championship Tournament, hosted by top-seeded Keene State College. The host Owls opened the tournament with a 12-1 win over No. 6 UMass Dartmouth before No. 5 Rhode Island College upset No. 2 UMass Boston, 7-0. No. 3 Eastern Connecticut closed out the day with a 3-1 triumph over No. 4 Southern Maine.
No. 1 Keene State 12, No. 6 UMass Dartmouth 1 (7 innings) - Box Score
The host Owls scored in four of the six innings that saw them come to bat in the opening game of the day. They led 3-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth where they loaded the bases for Jonathan Chatfield, who sent all three baserunners home with triple and scored on an error by _ Wilcox on the play to extend their lead to 7-0.
A five-run sixth for Keene State brought the 10-run rule into play. That inning featured a solo homer from Tommy Ahlers and a two-run blast off the bat of Shea Zina. George Young then came in to pitch for the top of the seventh. He allowed one hit and one free pass, but fanned Liam Blesi and induced a game-ending double play to secure the win.
David Floyd improved to 5-2 on the hill for the Owls after allowing one run on one hit while racking up eight Ks in his six innings. Ahlers finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored, while Otis Follett was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Evan Cali was 2-for-3 with one run scored
Matt Tempone’s solo homer in the top of the fifth accounted for UMass Dartmouth’s lone run, it was one of his two hits on the day. Dillon Harding fell to 3-3 on the mound after giving up seven runs (five earned) on nine hits and three walks in his five innings.
No. 5 Rhode Island College 7, No. 2 UMass Boston 0 - Box Score
Terry Murray took the hill for the Anchormen, and posted one of the most dominant performances of his career. The 2023 LEC Pitcher of the Year fired a six-hit shutout, fanning eight batters as he improved to 4-4 with an upset of the tournament’s No. 2 seed.
RIC got the only runs it would need in the top of the second, as Parker Carmelo singled through the left side to plate Daniel Cascio before following Lucas McElroy home on Justin Wardwell’s double to center. Cascio then delivered a two-run homer in the third, while Cal Parillo and McElroy came up with RBI-singles in the fifth and eighth innings, respectively.
Wardwell was 4-for-5 in the game with two RBI, while Cascio finished the day 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. McElroy finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Camelo went 2-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored.
Ross Dexter fell to 4-2 for the Beacons after giving up six runs on 10 hits while fanning eight in his six innings of work.
UMass Boston did have changes to get on the board, stranding a pair of runners in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings. Bostyn Burris was 2-for-3 on the day, while Mike Meagher was 2-for-4
No. 3 Eastern Connecticut 3, No. 4 Southern Maine 1 - Box Score
The final game of the day started off as a pitcher’s duel between Eastern Connecticut’s Matthew Wootton and Southern Maine’s Colin McDonald, who carried a shutout into the sixth.
The Warriors were the first to break through on the scoreboard with a two-run sixth. An error in left allowed Ray Leonzi to score from third before Preston Cosme-Cruz crossed the plate on a ground out to shortstop by Alejandro Soriano. Leonzi would cross the plate with an insurance run in the eighth on a ground out to second from Hank Penders.
Wootton (4-2) gave up just two hits while striking out eight over his seven innings before giving way to Nathan Furino for the eighth. Furino would record just one out in his appearance, and allowed USM’s lone run on Chris Quigley’s single up the middle that sent Jack LeBlond home.
Tyler Rice then came in to pitch for Eastern and recorded two quick outs to get out of the eighth. He stayed on for the ninth, and loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles before fanning LeBlond, Dylan Firmin and Joe Bova to get out of the jam end the game and pick up his fifth save.
McDonald fell to 4-3 after allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits with four Ks over his 7.2 innings of work for the Huskies.