Notables
-CSS is ranked No. 22 in the D3baseball.com poll and No. 11 in the ABCA poll
-UMass Boston is ranked No. 1 in both polls
-CSS walked a program-high 12 batters
-First meeting between the two programs
AUBURNDALE, Fla. (
csssaints.com) – No. 1-ranked UMass Boston scored nine runs in the final three innings to pull away and defeat the 22
nd-ranked St. Scholastica baseball team 13-6 on Friday at the Russmatt Invitational.
Close Early
The Beacons (9-2) got on the board early with a two-run home run in the top of the second. CSS starter
Isaac Rocha (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna HS) was able to get out of bases loaded jam in the inning to keep it at 2-0.
Riley Bernsdorf (Meadowlands, Minn./Floodwood HS) led off the bottom frame with a double.
Chris Olson (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) followed with a double of his own to bring in Bernsdorf and make it 2-1. Olson, however, would be stranded at third in the inning.
The Saints would tie it at 2-2 in the fourth as
Drew Colvard (Little Canada, Minn./Roseville HS) had a two-out RBI single to plate
Eric Pearson (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS). UMB, however, quickly regained the lead in the fifth. The Beacons drew a pair of walks to lead off the inning and those two players eventually came around to score on groundouts to make it 4-2.
St. Scholastica got one of those runs back in the bottom half as Pearson hit a RBI double to left to bring in
Aaron Weber (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Pierz HS) and put the score at 4-3.
Beacons Pull Away Late
After CSS got out of a bases loaded, no one out jam in the sixth, it would not be as fortunate in the seventh. The Beacons loaded the bases with one out and proceeded to hit four RBI singles and also had a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 9-3.
UMB added four more runs with two outs in the eighth and ninth innings to push the margin to 10.
Jared Davidson (Carver, Minn./Chanhassen HS) had a RBI single and
Cole Tyman (Elk Mound, Wis./Elk Mound HS) drove in two runs with a single in the ninth to make the final 13-6.
Pitching
Rocha struck out four in four innings in the defeat. The Saints walked 12 batters on the day, which is a program record. Fernando Burgos recorded five strikeouts in five innings to earn the win.
Hitting
Eight of the nine St. Scholastica starters had a hit in the contest. Colvard was the only Saints with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Colvard is the only Saint to have a hit in every game thus far.
The top two hitters in the UMass Boston lineup went a combined 6-for-10 and drove in four runs
Up Next:
The Saints (5-2) conclude play at the Russmatt Invitational on Saturday with a game against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET)
