Baseball Season Opener Slips in Extras at No. 14 UMass Boston, 8-7

BOSTON – Suffolk baseball's ninth inning comeback would not be enough to breakdown No. 14 UMass Boston as the Beacons battled back to force extra innings and won the game on a bases loaded wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th to spoil the Rams' season opener, 8-7, Monday at Monan Park. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 7 | No. 14 UMass Boston 8
RECORDS: Suffolk (0-1) | No. 14 UMass Boston (2-0) 

A LOOK AT THE GAME
With two dead to open the game, Rich Gilbride found himself in a 0-2 count before barreling a deep ball to the warning track in left center for a double. On Blase Cormier's first at bat of 2020, the junior's one-hopper to short was bobbled by the Beacons' Gianni Zarrilli Jr. who over threw to first, which allowed Gilbride to stride in for the Rams' first run of the day and of the season. 

An inning later Suffolk stretched its edge to a pair of runs. Back-to-back singles had runners on first and second before Steven Shamnoski's sac bunt put the Rams into scoring position. Nik San Antonio brought in Zack Aresty on a ground out to short to make it a 2-0 Suffolk score after 1.5 frames. 

The Beacons battled back in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Zarrilli Jr.'s two-run single to left center leveled the playing field at 2-all. UMass had a chance to take the lead as Danny Brown wore a pitch to put all the ducks in the pond, however, a monster double-play grab at second by San Antonio kept the hosts from going ahead and twos remained on both sides of the board. 

Suffolk was kept scoreless for the first time on the day in the third, but the same can't be said for Boston, who took their first lead of the contest. Nick Cotraro, who knocked a one-out double to right center, came in on Nico Kydes' single up the middle to flip the score in favor of the Beacons' 3-2. 

After a scoreless fourth, the Rams had a chance to take control in the fifth. Dylan Fashempour came in to take over the hill. The Beacons fresh arm walked the bases loaded, but threw strikes when needed capped off by a belt-high breaking ball to take down Rich Giandrea looking, which stranded all three Rams, and kept UMass up one. 

Boston doubled its lead in the home half of the fifth. Parker Browne got in a bases loaded, no-out jam that Michael Muscarella came in to take care of. The sophomore caused Curtis Tirone to hit into a 463 double play and ended the inning with a ground out to third to limit the damage to just one run that gave the Beacons a 4-2 cushion. 

The Rams chipped away at the gap in the sixth. Aresty, who led off with a double down the left field line, came in courtesy of Logan Heckman's single to right field to pull Suffolk back within one, 4-3. 

Muscarelli dealt back-to-back three-up, three-down innings to keep the blue-and-gold within striking distance. Caleb Piwnicki came in to take over for Muscarelli in the eighth and picked up right where Muscarelli left off to keep the one-run game intact. 

Suffolk traded strikeouts with walks to have two outs and runners on first and second in the top of the ninth when Marc Birbiglia sauntered to the plate for his first collegiate at bat, which held a do-or-die attitude. The Rams' rookie showed his composure and he hit a single through the left side to plate the game-tying run. With the game knotted at 4-all, Anthony Del Prete used another pinch hitter, sophomore transfer Gino Desimone. Once again the fresh bat paid off for the visitors as Desimone placed a deep double that allowed a pair of runners to cross home and make it a two-run lead, 6-4. 

Two outs away from the victory in the bottom of the ninth, a costly error by Ben Isaak allowed the Beacons to chuck the bags before Casey Sullivan came in to throw. The southpaw was just off the mark as he walked in two runs that equaled matters for the third time on the day, 6-6. 

CJ Barrett came in to take over for Sullivan. He kept the game going with a strikeout and a long fly out to left where Birbiglia's diving save sent the Rams' opening day contest to extras.

Steven Shamnoski started the free baseball with a base hit through the left side. Michael James Jr. took the catcher's spot on the bags and worked his away around with a stolen base, sac bunt and scored the go-ahead run thanks to Heckman's deep sac fly to center. 

For the second time in as many innings, the Beacons had the bases loaded with just one out with the Rams ahead by one, 7-6. This time, the game-tying run was put on the board when Chris Ducko was hit by a pitch. Barrett sat down Thomas Cue swinging for the second out of the frame, but a wild pitch during Nico Kydes at bat allowed Brown to sprint in from third for the walk-off win. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Browne earned the nod in game one for the blue-and-gold. He ended the day after 4.0 innings pitched with four runs allowed on seven hits and three walks and three strikeouts.
• Muscarelli had a standup relief showing with 3.1 innings of scoreless work with no hits allowed and just one base-on-balls given up. He sat down two of the 10 batters he faced.
• Barrett suffered the setback after giving up two runs on two hits and one walk in one complete.
• Piwnicki (1.0 IP, 2R, 2BB, 1K) and Sullivan (0.1 IP, 2 BB, 1K) each came out of the Rams' pen.
• Bet Gottesman started for the Beacons and threw the first complete 4.0 frames in which he compiled a a two-run (one earned), three-hit, three-strikeout, one-walk stat line.
• The Beacons used one arm per inning from there with Mike Doherty coming in for the victory. He finished his 1.0 frame with one run allowed on two hits.   

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Each team produced nine hits on the night.
• Aresty was the lone Ram with multiple knocks. The senior outfielder had one single and one double to go along with two runs scored.
• Heckman had an all-around outing with one hit, one sac fly, two RBI, one sniped bag and one walk.
• Birbiglia and Desimone each supplied huge hits as pinch hitters with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The former had a one-RBI base hit, while the latter collected two RBI on a double.
• San Antonio collected one RBI.
• Gilbride registered one hit, a double, with one run scored, one stolen base and one walk.
• Brigham, Cormier, and James Jr., who stole one base, each scored once for the Rams.
• Suffolk had three extra base hits compared to the Beacons' four.
• All of the seven extra bases hit on the day were doubles.
• The Rams stole four bags compared to UMass' one. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk began its campaign in New England for the first time since 2016 and since time in the Anthony Del Prete era.
• The Rams met a ranked foe on day one of the season for the first time since 2017, when the blue-and-gold downed then-No. 9 St. John Fisher, 11-3, in Florida.
• Suffolk went into extra innings in its first outing of the year for the first time under Del Prete's guidance and first time in the inning-by-inning record book, which dates back to the 2007 campaign.
• The Rams moved to 3-3 with Del Prete on the bench in the first game of the season.
• Suffolk dipped to 12-9 in its season opener since 2000.
• The Rams and UMass Boston met in the blue-and-gold's game one for the first time since 2003.
• Birbiglia and Piwnicki each made their collegiate debuts, while James Jr. and Desimone had their first appearance in a Suffolk jersey.
• Aresty had a personal-best two hits with his second-ever double, first since April 15, 2017 against Anna Maria. 
• Birbiglia record his first collegiate hit and RBI. 

POST-GAME PIC
 

COMING UP
Suffolk ventures south for the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational for a Spring Break trip in which the Rams will compete in five doubleheaders. Suffolk begins its Spring Break trip Saturday, March 7 with a twinbill against Dickinson. Game one is set for a 10 a.m. start at Chain of Lakes Field in Winter Haven, Florida.