Baseball Suffers 9-1 Setback To UMass Boston

Brockton, MA --- UMass Boston junior Will Barrack (Lancaster, VA) fired a five hit complete-game effort with eight strikeouts as he helped lead the Beacons to a 9-1 triumph over Worcester State in non-conference baseball action on Thursday night at Campanelli Stadium.

The contest was the home-opener for UMass Boston (4-6) who pounded out 12 hits in the victory.

Barrack, who won last week's Little East and ECAC Division III New England Pitcher of the Week awards for 16 punch outs in a win over Concordia, was dominant as he walked no one and only allowed three to reach past third base.

UMB senior Matt Consiglio (Southbury, CT) also had a stellar performance at the plate with a 4-for-4 effort with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs. Sophomore Charles LaPaglia (Marshfield, MA) chipped in with a pair of base-knocks for the hosts.

The Lancers (5-8) were paced by freshman Dennis Duplessis (Marlboro, MA) who knocked in two of their five safeties in the contest.

UMass Boston started off the game with the 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when freshman Jared Florentino (W. Roxbury, MA) knocked in a run on a ground-rule double and classmate Kurtis White (Nahant, MA) added a sacrifice fly.

The Beacons made the score 4-0 in the next frame on a two-run single by Consiglio, with the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the fourth, UMB first-year Tyler Kirwan (Syracuse, NY) scored on a passed ball and in the fifth, White crossed the plate again on a throwing error by the catcher with two outs as both helped make the margin 6-0 in favor of the hosts.

Worcester State did get a run back in the top of the sixth when they put runners on first and second with back-to-back singles by Duplessis and sophomore Nicholas Gikas (Danvers, MA).  After both moved up one base on a ground-out, the Lancers broke the shutout on a deep fly to right which scored a run by second-year David Ruggiero (Peabody, MA).

UMass Boston put the game away with a trio of runs in the bottom of the eighth as the Beacons took advantage of misplays at the plate by the Blue and Gold.

Freshman Adam Gutierrez (Springfield, MA) crossed home plate on a miscued relay by the shortstop following a double by Consigio. Consiglio also scored on a passed ball and LaPaglia notched the games final tally on a wild pitch.

Sophomore Jared Kuzio (Franklin, MA) suffered his first loss of the season for Worcester State as he went the first four innings giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits. Kuzio (1-1) walked two and struck out a pair of batters.

For the Lancers, second-year Ben Libuda (Auburn, MA) once again was solid out of the bullpen in his third appearance of the campaign. Libuda tossed four solid frames while he registered four strikeouts and yielded the lone unearned run in the sixth.  

Both squads open their respective conference schedules with road doubleheaders on Saturday afternoon. The Lancers head to Salem State for a 1 PM first-pitch while UMass Boston travels south to play UMass Dartmouth at noon.

Photo Courtesy of Endicott College Sports Information