Baseball Falls to UMass Dartmouth, 19-1

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- The UMass Dartmouth baseball team rolled to a 19-1 non-conference win over visiting Bridgewater State University on Thursday evening at Paul Walsh Field.

The Corsairs improve to 13-9 on the season with the win, while to Bears slide to 5-15 overall.

Ervin Kantardzic (Roslindale, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI to power UMass.

All nine starters in the Corsair lineup registered at least one hit as the hosts pounded out a season-high 18 base knocks to produce a season-best 19 runs.

Kantardzic reached safely in four of his five appearances, recording three singles and a walk to go along with three stolen bases. Andy Gonzalez (Mattapan, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a two-run homer, while Alberto Vasquez (Roxbury, Mass.) also posted three hits. Connor Shaw (Goffstown, N.H.) and Taylor Cacciola (West Greenwich, R.I.) also registered multiple base knocks.

Michael Theriault (Boston, Mass.) (1-1) earned his first collegiate victory, allowing no runs on three hits and five strikeouts over five innings. The rookie right-hander stranded a runner in scoring position in each of the first four frames, while effectively working out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the fifth.

UMass Dartmouth was finally able to solve the Bears in the bottom of the third inning, sending nine batters to the plate.  Kantardzic recorded the Corsairs' first base hit with an opposite field single into the right centerfield gap, while Gonzalez followed with a single to right field.  A walk loaded the bases for Ryan Medeiros (Acushnet, Mass.), who opened the scoring with a RBI single to right field. George Agostini (Rehoboth, Mass.) ripped a two-run single back through the box, while Cacciola capped the five-run outburst with a single to right field.

That would be all the run support the hosts' would need, but they exploded for 10 runs in the bottom half of the sixth to take a commanding 19-0 advantage.

Bridgewater State scored its lone run of the contest in the seventh inning, when pinch hitter Devin Sanders (New Bedford, Mass.) drove his first career home run over the left field fence. The blast marked the Bears first home run in 59 games.

Jacob Souza (Acushnet, Mass.) doubled, singled and walked in five plate appearance to lead the BSU offense. Souza has at least one hit in 14 of the last 15 games and now has eight multi-hit games on the season.

Sophomore Trevor Brown (Rehoboth, Mass.) (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season.