Junior Conner Reinfurt hit two home runs including a walk-off grand slam to help the University of Massachusetts-Boston pick up an 11-8 victory over Denison University on Sunday afternoon from Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Fla.
The Big Red jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after an RBI single by Matt Forgatch (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) scored rookie Andrew Touhy (Wilmette, Ill./Loyola Academy) from first. However, the Beacons responded in the bottom half of the first with four runs, including solo home runs by Mark McCormack and Reinfurt.
Denison cut into the 4-1 deficit in the fourth inning with an Alex Horn (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) RBI single that scored David Holmes (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest). In the fifth frame junior Peter Krieger (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) trimmed the lad to one with a double to the left-center field gap that drove in Forgatch. The Big Red retook a 5-4 lead in the inning on a Zach Huttie (Cary, N.C./Athens Drive) double to left that plated Krieger and Holmes.
DU's lead was short lived as UMass' Tim Fontaine drove a pair on an RBI double, and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice bunt to give the Beacons a 7-5 edge through five innings.
Huttie had a repeat performance in the seventh inning with his second, two-RBI double to left field, tying the contest at 7-7. Just like in the fifth frame, the senior shortstop drove in Krieger and Holmes.
After a scoreless eighth, Krieger put the Big Red back in front (8-7) with his second home run in as many games. The junior's second homer of the year sailed over the left field wall.
Trailing by a just one run, UMass-Boston had the luxury of sending their two, three and four hitters to the plate in the last half of the ninth. The Beacons opened the innings with a Dan Noonan base hit to left field. The single was followed up by a base-on-balls and a bunt single by Fontaine to load the bases with no outs. The stage was set for Reinfurt's second long ball of the day that cleared the center field wall.
Huttie finished with a pair of doubles and four RBIs, while Krieger went 4-for-5 with home run, double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Junior Nick Smith (Mirror Lake, N.H./Holderness School) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on three hits in the ninth.
The Big Red falls to 3-3 on the year, while UMass improves to 1-1. Denison returns to the field on Monday (Mar. 15) when they take on Endicott at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, Fla. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
