Little East Conference Baseball Tournament
UMass Boston 7, Eastern Conn. 1

BOSTON – After winning its first two games, second-seeded Eastern  fell into the losers' bracket with the loss to the top seed and defending champions in the winners' bracket final Friday in the six-team double-elimination tournament at Monan Park. Eastern (24-15) was scheduled to plan an elimination game Friday at 6 p.m.,'s 10-5 with the winner of that game needing to defeat UMass Boston (33-8) twice Saturday beginning at noon to capture the title.

UMass scored two in the first and leading 4-1 after six, broke the game open with three in the bottom of the eighth, two coming home on No. 9 hitter Charlie Huegi's two-out, opposite-field triple to right and ending Eastern's five-game winning streak.

Fatigue was an issue for Eastern, which concluded Thursday night's 10-5, three-hour win over Rhode Island College after 11 p.m., and was back at the park at 9 a.m. for its 11 a.m. winners' bracket game with the hosts.

Eastern senior starter Sam Kosterich (Stamford) allowed four runs on nine hits before departing one batter into the seventh inning. Kosterich (3-3) struck out one and walked three.

Trailing 3-0, Eastern got one back inn the sixth against winning pitcher Fernando Burgos (8-1) on freshman rightfielder Anthony Stigler's (Mansfield) two-out single to right which scored freshman DH Jack Rich (Meriden), who had opened the inning with a single and moved to third on junior third baseman Alex Parkos' (Meriden) single. UMass turned its second infield double play of the game in that inning to prevent more damage.

Eight different players contributed to Eastern's nine-hit attack, Senior catcher Merlyn Herrera (La Yaquiza, DR) reached three times with two singles and a walk, senior first baseman D.J. Scavone (Auburn, MA) three times with an infield single and two walks. Junior centerfielder Alexander White (West Hartford) and junior leftfielder Ryan Hood (Arlington, MA) each doubled. Scavone extended his on-base streak to 25.

Eastern played perfect defense for the third straight game but stranded ten runners, three times leaving two.