BOSTON, Mass. – The Castleton baseball team hit the road for a doubleheader against UMass Boston Saturday, dropping the afternoon's opening game 7-4 before suffering the weekend sweep with a 12-2 loss in the second matchup.
 
Game 1: Castleton 4, UMass Boston 7
 
The Spartans (5-10-1, 0-4 LEC) racked up seven hits in Saturday's opener, highlighted by a 2-4, two-run performance by Hunter Perkins, but struggles on the mound plagued Castleton in the close loss.
 
Four runs in the opening frame got the Beacons (13-4, 4-0 LEC) off to a hot start, but Castleton responded well to tie the game after two, scoring a pair of runs in each of the first two innings.
 
Perkins and Reece de Castro each crossed home plate in the bottom of the first before a two-RBI double from Tyler McLain — his second straight game with multiple RBIs — tied the game at four after two. Those runs would be the last Castleton would score however, tacking on just four hits over the next seven innings.
 
UMass Boston, meanwhile, added runs in the fourth, seventh and ninth innings to claim Game 1 7-4. Riley Orr (1-4) took the loss in Saturday's opener, allowing five runs and striking out four batters through five innings.
 
Game 2: Castleton 2, UMass Boston 12
 
Castleton struggled on both ends of the field in Saturday's finale, putting together just two hits on the day while allowing double digit runs for the fourth time in six games. Zack Marlow took the loss for the Spartans, allowing seven runs — six earned — and striking out two in four innings of work.
 
Castleton scored a run in in both the second and fifth innings on RBIs from Addison Schaub and Perkins, but a five-run third inning by the Beacons was the decider en route to handing the Spartans the 12-2 loss and weekend sweep.
 
Castleton is back in action Tuesday, April 5 for a non-conference matchup against Middlebury College, with first pitch is set for 4 p.m.