It stumbled out of the gate, got crushed by Alabama to open the season and went on to lose five of their first six games.
It lost two of three in their first Atlantic 10 series at Duquesne.
It gave up a combined 37 runs in two drubbings at the hands of rival Connecticut.
It blew a three-run lead in the top of the ninth to lose the opening game of the 2003 Baseball Beanpot, and then fell hard to Northeastern 6-1 in the consolation game to finish the tournament dead last.
It lost the final game of its season, 14-8, at the hands of a team seven games below .500.
Minus the aforementioned lowlights coach Mike Stone would surely love to forget, the Massachusetts baseball team went 22-5.
The Minutemen nearly swept a doubleheader from Big East rival Boston College. They put together a furious and dramatic rally to down Vermont. They avenged the loss to Northeastern behind a group of freshman hurlers. They won all but one of their A-10 series, sweeping two of them.
And now, by taking two of three from St. Joseph’s over the weekend, they are the champions of the Atlantic 10 East Division.
“It feels good.” Stone said. “[Winning the A-10 East] is what we’ve been trying to accomplish. We had a little bit of a struggle at times, but that’s baseball. The guys hung in there and have played well. We’ve been focused as a team all year. We’ve known what’s needed to be done, and for the most part we’ve done it.”
“After last season, our goal all year has been to be outright champions of the A-10 East,” senior designated hitter Chris Morgan said. “There’s different periods throughout a season where we’ve struggled, but we just got back on our feet and worked to keep putting it all together.”
Sunday’s series final saw an oddity for Stone and the Minutemen – National Pitcher of the Week Matt Torra struggled.
The freshman lasted just four innings, surrendering 10 runs on nine hits while walking three and striking out five. Torra was tagged with his fourth loss of the season.
The Minutemen (24-17, 14-7 A-10) grabbed an early 3-0 lead on a three-run homer off the bat of senior first baseman Jeff Altieri. UMass upped its advantage to 5-1 before surrendering 12 consecutive runs to the Hawks (17-31, 9-14 A-10).
It also marked the final home game at Earl Lorden Field for the senior quartet of Altieri, Morgan and co-captains John Seed and Tom Ellerbrook.
In Saturday’s second game, Stone turned a 5-4 lead over to closer Scott Ratliff, who was dominant, but was victimized by a double off the bat of SJU catcher Mike DeLorenzo. The Fairfield, N.J. native later scored the tying run.
“I was surprised [DeLorenzo] hit that pitch,” Stone said. “We had been throwing him breaking balls all game and he had been way out in front. [Ratliff’s] breaking ball is so much harder than anyone else’s, I think maybe the kid just happened to hit it.”
Nevertheless, the Minutemen capitalized on a leadoff triple by Ellerbrook in the bottom of the ninth. After juniors Mike Athas and Adam Stojanowski were intentionally walked to load the bases and set up force plays, Morgan ran the count full before drilling the game-winning single to centerfield.
“I was looking to be patient and get my pitch,” Morgan said. “I was definitely going to swing on the full count. I wasn’t looking for a walk, I was definitely looking to be aggressive.”
Saturday’s first game saw UMass erase an early 2-0 deficit with 10 unanswered runs to cruise past the Hawks 10-2. Winning pitcher Eric Chown gave up no earned runs while scattering six hits and striking out two.
The Minutemen have earned a bye in next weekend’s Atlantic 10 Championship as the No. 2 seed, and will face the winner of Rhode Island/George Washington. The tournament will be played at Dodd Memorial Stadium in Norwich, Conn.
“I feel good about this ball club in postseason play.” Stone said. [Winning the A-10 East title] gives us more confidence heading into the postseason. We’re looking sharp, and getting that second seed and a bye in the A-10 tournament is huge for us.”
“We’re excited about being champs, but the work’s not done yet,” Chown said. We’re still just going to take it a game at a time and focus on what we need to do. “We’re real confident and just want to keep rolling.”
“Everything seems to be coming together now.” Morgan said.
