Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass baseball haunted by missed opportunities in 8-5 loss

Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian
Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian

After recording two quick outs in the top of the third inning, Massachusetts baseball starter Tim Cassidy looked like he was settling into a grove.

He had yet to allow a hit and had good command of his fastball and breaking ball. But the next batter, Connecticut shortstop Tom Verdi, poked a seeing-eye single just under the glove of Minuteman third baseman Nik Campero. That was all UConn needed, as the next four Huskies batters reached base as they took a 3-2 lead.

The two-out rally proved to be the difference, as UConn (20-19) went on to beat UMass 8-5 on Tuesday at Earl Lorden Field. Cassidy took his first loss of the year while UConn starter Callahan Brown pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs to pick up the win.

“We were in a situation where we wanted to pitch around their three-four guys (in the lineup).” UMass coach Mike Stone said. “We just made some mistakes in location, and they capitalized.”

Those mistakes proved costly, as the three-four combo of Blake Davey and Bobby Melley combined to go 4-for-6 with five RBIs for the Huskies.

At the plate, it was an afternoon of missed opportunities for the Minutemen (8-24). They left eight runners on base, none of which were more glaring than the three left stranded in the bottom of the seventh.

After loading the bases with no outs, UMass was poised to put a dent in UConn’s 8-4 lead. Its top three hitters in batting average – Mike Geannelis, Nik Campero and Dylan Begin – were all due up at the plate.

Instead, Huskies reliever Pat Ruotolo overpowered the Minutemen, recording three straight strikeouts to get UConn out of the jam. UMass never had a better chance to get back in the game.

“You couldn’t have set it up any better.” Stone said. “As a hitter, that’s where you want to be. A guy is throwing straight fastballs, he’s not fooling anybody.”

Right fielder Adam Picard also commented on the squandered chance.

“Missed opportunities are baseball,” he said. “You get guys up in the right situations, we just need to do a better job of seeing the ball and taking advantage of what we have.”

Picard homered to straightaway center in the bottom of the eighth, closing the gap to 8-5. He was 2-for-3 with three RBIs on the day.

UConn received five strong innings from Brown, who commanded his fastball and walked just one batter. The Huskies bullpen was strong in denying the Minutemen chances to get back into the game and pitched the final 3 1/3 innings while allowing just one run. David Mahoney picked up the save for the Huskies, his fourth of the year.

Despite the loss, Campero believes the team has improved as the Minutemen enter the home stretch of their schedule.

“Now that we’ve been on the field for a couple weeks, I think guys are much more comfortable with playing,” he said. “Earlier in the year we looked timid at the plate as well as on the mound. Now that we’ve got 30-35 games under our belt we look pretty comfortable out there and it looks a lot better than how it started.”

UMass returns to action this weekend when it travels to Fordham for a three game set. The series starts on Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Ross Gienieczko can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @RossGien.

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