MANSFIELD, Conn. – To the surprise of few, the Little East Conference regular-season baseball title and No. 1 tournament seed will be decided on the final day of the regular season Friday when Eastern Connecticut State University visits defending champion University of Southern Maine.

At right: Mike Vaccarelli had two hits in the win over UMass Dartmouth Sunday, including the game-winner in the 11th inning (Photo by Liam Murphy)

Sunday, Eastern (23-7, 9-3 Little East) remained two games off the pace by splitting a Little East doubleheader with long-time rival University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (18-17, 7-5 Little East) at the Eastern Baseball Stadium. The split allowed the Warriors, ranked second in New England, to remain two games behind Southern Maine, ranked first in New England, with Friday's decisive doubleheader on tap at noon.

Sunday, UMass Dartmouth won the opener, 10-6, before Eastern rallied for a 5-4, 11-inning verdict in the nightcap.

Eastern needs a sweep of the Huskies Friday to tie Southern Maine for a share of the regular-season title and earn the No. 1 tournament seed and hosting honors for the six-team, double-elimination event May 7-10. By winning one game, the Huskies are the outright champion and No. 1 seed for the third straight year.

Since the institution of the one-division conference in 1998, the regular-season has been won or shared by either Eastern or Southern Maine every season. Eastern has been the outright titlist seven times, Southern Maine four times and one of the teams has shared the title the remaining four times (twice they have shared the crown with each other).

In Sunday's second game, senior captain Mike Vaccarelli (Wolcott) drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning (Eastern was the visiting team) on a two-out single, plating senior outfielder Adam Roderick (West Hartford) from second base. Roderick had walked to lead off the inning and move up on an infield ground ball.  With the tying run on second base in the bottom of the 11th, Eastern junior centerfielder Joe Perez (North Branford) made a diving, game-ending catch on a drive by pinch hitter Connor Shaw.

Sophomore righty Adam Merritt (Seymour)  allowed only one hit in 3 2/3 innings of relief for his second win in three decisions and has yet to allow an earned run in 17 2/3 innings this year. Senior first baseman Gavin Lavallee (New Milford) was 4-for-6 with an RBI and Roderick scored twice and drove in a run as a late-inning replacement.

Eastern won for the 16^th time in its last 19 games despite stranding 16 baserunners. The Warriors left two or more runners aboard five times, including three straight times in the early innings. 

The Warriors tied the game 4-4 in the ninth on an error and  three hits, with junior first baseman Brendan Germano (Berlin) driving in Roderick from second with a single to center, but they left the bases loaded.

In the first game, UMass Dartmouth survived four errors, driving Eastern senior starter Greg Porter (Mystic) from the game in a six-run third inning. The Corsairs scored nine runs over the first three innings before Eastern rallied for four runs in the middle innings to make it close.

Junior lefty Nick Fuller (2-3) didn't allow an earned run and gave up only three hits in pitching the first five innings for UMass and left with a 9-3 lead. He fanned seven and walked two.

In the first game, the top three hitters in the UMass lineup – Ryan Medeiros, George Agostini and Cory Medeiros – combined for six hits, five RBI and four runs. Medeiros , batting leadoff, had two triples among his three hits, scored twice and drove in two runs.

UMass scored its six third-inning runs after there were two out and one on. There were two hits, two walks, three hit by pitch and an Eastern infield error in an inning where Ben Monteiro  and Agostini had two-run doubles.

Eastern senior shortstop Brendan Lynch (Wethersfield) and sophomore DH Andrew Scully (Berlin) went hitless in the first game and had their hitting streaks stopped at eight.

Eastern visits Tufts University Monday at 4 p.m. The Jumbos are ranked No.3 in New England.