DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Suffolk baseball took an eight-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, the Corsairs caught up to force extra-innings where the Rams took care of business to take a 12-10 victory over UMass Dartmouth Thursday at the UMD Baseball Field.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 12 | UMass Dartmouth 10 
RECORDS: Suffolk (16-14) | UMass Dartmouth (11-17)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk scored one run in the first three innings to go up early. The Corsairs chipped away at the Rams lead with a run of their own in the home half of the third.  

The blue-and-gold bumped the distance back in the next half inning as it rattled off fourth runs to make it a 7-1 game.  The fourth-inning rally saw Ben Isaak and Joe Ward bring in one run apiece on singles with Jonny Gilbride scoring a runner on a double down the left field line.  

UMD got a run back in the fifth to trim Suffolk's advantage down to five. 

Two innings later Blase Cormier's down the left field line plated Luke Harder, who bunted for a base hit, to restore the six-run gap. 

Suffolk started an action-packed ninth with another two runs. Harder tripled to left to score Michael James Jr., who walked, before scoring behind Cormier's single through the left side. 

The Rams held onto a 10-2 cushion in the bottom of the ninth. The Corsairs pulled off the comeback as they cycled through the order to score eight runs and level the playing field at 10-all. 

Three pitching changes and three walks later, James Jr. wore a pitch with the bases loaded to push Suffolk in front. Harder's ground out to short brought in an insurance run to pad edge to a pair. 

James Jr. took over the rubber for the bottom of the 10th. The right-handed reliever retired the side to secure the win. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• James earned the decision thanks to his shutdown inning of relief that featured one strikeout. 
• Nick Reiser (2.0 IP, 1 H, 3 K) and Pierce Salbego (1.0 IP, 1 K) were reliable relievers for the Rams. 
• Caleb Piwnicki started for he Suffolk. He let up one run on four hits with three punchouts over 2.2 innings. 
• Andrew Steinhubel earned the nod for the Corsairs. He gave up seven runs, two earned, on eight hits and one walk with one K through 4.0 frames. 
• Chris Kustigian compiled a one-run, four-hit, one-strikeout stat line in 3.0 innings for UMD. 
• Nick Pappas (1.0 IP, 1 H) and Josh Malcolm (1.0 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K) threw 1.0 inning of relief for UMass Dartmouth.
• Jayson Reola (1 R, 1 BB) suffered the setback.     

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Cormier contributed a 4-for-5 effort with a pair of doubles. He brought in two runs and scored two himself. 
• Ward registered three hits including one double, two RBI, two runs scored and one swiped bag. 
• Harder had three hits, including a triple, three runs scored, two RBI and one stolen base. 
• Isaak chipped in two hits, one RBI and one run scored.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk needed extra time to decide a winner for the second time this season. 
• The Rams won their first extra-inning game since walking off, 2-1, in the nightcap against Ursinus at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational March 13, 2020.
• Suffolk snapped a three-game skid against UMass Dartmouth. 
• The Rams defeated the Corsairs for the first time since April 28, 2016. 
• Suffolk moved to 8-24 all-time against UMD. 
• The blue-and-gold is 2-4 versus UMass Dartmouth in Anthony Del Prete's tenure. 
• Both of the victories against UMD under Del Prete's guidance have come in 10 innings. 
• Suffolk went into extra innings against UMass Dartmouth for the first time since April 28, 2016. 
• The Rams and Corsairs went into extras for the third time overall. Suffolk is 2-1 when playing UMD in extra innings. 
• Cormier tied a career-high in hits (4) and doubles (2). 
• Harder matched a personal-best in hits (3) and runs scored (3).
• Ward tied a personal-high three hits. 
• Isaak has had two hits in back-to-back games.  
• Garret Roberts (3 games), Cormier (3 games), Harry Painter (3 games) and Jonny Gilbride (10 games) extended their hit streaks.

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk steps back to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Saturday, April 23 when it travels to Western New England.