KISSIMMEE, FLA.—St. John Fisher's Allen Murphy hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth, to lift the Cardinals past #7/9 UMass Boston baseball 10-8 in the final game of their three-game set.

For a third-straight game, UMass Boston fell behind early only to mount a comeback. This time around, the Beacons rallied from down 4-1 to tie it and 7-4 to take the lead, only to see the Cardinals come up with the final big hit.

Senior Joe Maguire (Peabody, Mass.) made his first collegiate start and allowed just two earned runs (four total) over five strong innings.

Offensively, junior Brandon Cellucci (Wynantskill, N.Y.) led the way for the Beacons. He came on as a pinch hitter to go 3-3 with a run scored, three RBI and one of UMass Boston's three home runs. 

Senior Eddie Riley (Quincy, Mass.) and freshman Nico Kydes (Stamford, Conn.) also connected for their first home runs of the season.

Murphy led the way offensively for the Cardinals by going 3-4 with three runs scored and three RBI. 

Antony Mantova, Michael Beimel, and Sean Harris all added two RBI each for the hosts. 

For the third-straight day, St. John Fisher jumped out to an early lead and UMass Boston was forced to play catch up. 

After falling behind 4-1 after three innings, UMass Boston tied the game 4-4 thanks to three solo home runs. Riley cut the deficit to 4-2 in the fifth and then Cellucci and Kydes opened the sixth inning with back-to-back home runs. 

St. John Fisher responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to reclaim a 7-4 advantage. 

The Cardinals lead would be shortlived, as UMass Boston struck for two runs in each of the next two innings to claim their first and only lead of the game (8-7). 

In the seventh, Cellucci delivered an RBI double to score Ryan McCormick (Cumberland, Mass.) and Danny Brown (Hudson, Mass.) followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Nick Cotraro (Beverly, Mass.). 

The Beacons took the lead in the eight on back-to-back RBI singles from Nick Palma (Peabody, Mass.) and Cellucci. 

St. John Fisher had one final rally though. In the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinals put a pair of runners on with a single and an error and then Murphy delivered a 3-run, one-out home run. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Maguire was making his first collegiate start, after appearing in 47 games out of the bullpen his first three years.
• McCormick finished the game with two runs scored and a pair of walks. 
• With the loss, UMass Boston falls to 2-3 all-time against the Cardinals and 1-2 this season. 
• Kydes and junior transfer Kelly Killeen, Jr. (Scituate, N.H.) each made their Beacons debut in the loss. 

WHO'S NEXT 

UMass Boston will take on New England regional power Wheaton College on Sunday at 9 a.m.