It’s hard to believe a pitcher could cruise through an outing in the bitter, early-spring weather of New England, but sophomore Mike Crane opened up the afterburners yesterday and pitched the Massachusetts baseball team to a complete game shutout win over Sacred Heart 7-0.

Crane struck out 12 batters, and surrendered just three hits and two walks en route to his third victory of the season. It was the third straight win for the Minutemen, bringing them to 7-9 on the season

Sacred Heart suffered its third loss in as many games, and drops to 6-12.

Game conditions were less than conducive for pitching, but Crane insisted that things got easier the further he went.

“I felt that as the game went along I got more loose,” he said. “It was tough getting loose in the first few innings with the cold, but I just got it out of my head and got going.”

The effort solidified Crane’s case to become the staff ace. Should he do so, he would be filling some very large shoes, namely those of Jesse Santos, who held opponents to a .247 batting average last year before graduating.

As for the offense, the UMass bats provided more than enough run support for Crane, with three multi-run innings.

Matt Reynolds, who was impressive in the Maroon and White’s doubleheader against La Salle last weekend, again shined, going 3-for-4 with one run scored.

Frank Curreri also chipped in with three RBIs, two of which came on a single in the two-run UMass sixth. That single knocked out SHU pitcher Adam Dinihanian, who gave up earned three UMass runs, although seven crossed the plate under his watch.

The biggest offensive explosion of the day came in the fourth inning. Altieri started things off by reaching on an error, and Jason Twomley moved him over to third with a single. Matt Boulanger then scored Altieri on a double down the left field line, and Curreri brought him home on a fielder’s choice.

Tom Ellerbrook showed some hustle in attempting to stretch a single to left center into a double, and before he was gunned down at second. Twomley crossed for the Maroon and White’s fifth run.

The Minutemen started the game off with a little help from the SHU defense. Leadoff hitter Mike Athas reached on a nutmeg job by Sacred Heart shortstop Tim Lantz. He would later score along with Cullan Maumus on a Jeff Altieri double. Although Altieri was nailed in a rundown to end the inning, the damage was done.

The only danger Crane fell into was when the Pioneers had runners on second and third with one out in the seventh. But the righthander struck out the next batter, and induced a ground ball to end the inning unscathed.

One inning later, UMass coach Mike Stone sent stud transfer John Toffey out to the bullpen to loosen up, with the intent of bringing the Barnstable, Mass. native in if Crane got tired, but the starter would have none of it.

“No way [was I coming out],” he said. “[Stone] told me to let him know if I was getting tired, but I knew I was going to be fine. It was my game.”

The coach agreed.

“[Toffey] was going to come in, but [Crane] was cruising,” Stone said. “We wanted to see him get a complete game. He had his pitch count down and was throwing a lot of strikes. You want to see a tempo carry over into the weekend where we just shut them down.”

Crane threw an estimated 95 pitches, and his effectiveness improved the deeper he went. Stone alluded to the possibility of putting Crane in the weekend rotation as a result of his performance.

The UMass bats were helped by an eagerness at the plate, with a large number of hitters swinging at the first pitch.

“I think today we realized the umpire was calling a lot of pitches for strikes,” Stone said, “so we needed to swing early and avoid getting in a hole against a guy who throws a lot of pitches for strikes.”