Baseball Splits Twinbill with UMass Boston

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Plymouth State University and the University of Massachusetts Boston split a Little East Conference baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Panther Park, with PSU winning the opener, 6-4, but the Beacons coming back with a 4-1 victory in the nightcap.The games were originally scheduled to be played in Boston, but were moved due to field conditions and UMB remained the home team in both games.  The split decision leaves the Beacons with a 14-10 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the LEC, while PSU is now 3-18 overall and 1-6 in conference play. PSU took a 2-0 lead in the opener, thanks to a second-inning RBI groundout by junior Matt Gabellieri and a fourth inning solo home run by sophomore C.J. Rousseau, the first of his career.  After UMB got on the board with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth, PSU added three runs in the top of the fifth.  Sophomore Adam Kobeski knocked in one run on an infield grounder, and senior Nick Libera drove in two more with a bases-loaded single.The Beacons came right back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Junior Troy Larocque drove in two with a double, and then came around to score on a double by sophomore David Waters.The Panthers added an insurance run in the ninth inning on doubles by freshmen Trevor Hall and Jamie Aceto.  Junior Derek Guimond came on to pitch the ninth inning and earn the save, making a winner out of senior Mike Bradbury, who worked 6.1 innings and earned his first win of the season (1-3). UMB freshman Jaime Soto was the story of the nightcap, limiting the Panthers to four hits to earn the complete-game victory and improve to 1-2.  The only run he allowed was a seventh inning solo homer to Kobeski, his first of the season.The Beacons got all the runs they would need with a three-spot in the third inning.  Junior Darwin Gonzalez led off with a solo home run, his second of the year.  Senior Eddie Stish brought home a run with a sacrifice fly, and freshman Pat Donovan added an RBI double.RIC scored its fourth run in the fourth inning when Gonzalez singled and came around to score on a double by junior Jon Tekela.The Panthers will resume play tomorrow, when they host Southern Maine in a doubleheader at noon.