Having swept a season-opening doubleheader from Rider in frigid Lawrenceville, N.J. on March 7 – victories No. 500 and 501 of head coach Mike Stone’s career – the Massachusetts baseball team headed south to Florida during the university’s spring break period last week to compete in eight non-conference games prior to its home opener at Earl Lorden Field on Thursday.
Playing three games in three days in Tampa, Fla. before heading further south for the remaining five contests in Bradenton, Fla., the Minutemen were able to post a 3-5 record on the trip against stiff national competition, and even its overall record at 5-5 on the young season.
At IMG Baseball Academy in Bradenton on Sunday, the University of Miami-Ohio strung together six runs over the final three innings to erase a 5-2 deficit and hand UMass an 8-6 loss.
Junior first baseman Mike Ferris provided the biggest hit of the game for the Red Hawks, blasting a three-run homerun off of sophomore right-hander Jason Hickey in the seventh that game Miami a 6-5 lead, one they would not relinquish.
Senior second basemen Cullan Maumus and first baseman Matt Reynolds, along with sophomore centerfielder Doug Durepo all collected a pair of hits for the Minutemen, while sophomore right-hander Devin Barnett surrendered four runs on nine hits while striking out five in six-1/3 innings pitched.
The Maroon and White were also victimized by clutch late-game hitting by the opposition on Saturday as well, as the University of Northern Iowa broke a five-all tie in the top of the last inning of an abbreviated seven-inning game when John Winter’s single to center drove in Sean LaCoste and Armando Lara to give the Panthers a 7-5 victory in Bradenton.
Junior closer Scott Ratliff took the loss after coughing up five hits and two runs in an inning of work, while junior right-hander Mike Crane started and was also roughed up with nine hits and five runs over three and 2/3.
Senior tri-captain Mike Athas paced UMass offensively with three hits and a run batted in.
On Friday, UMass relied on its own offensive arsenal to put the game away early, as sophomore catcher Frank Curreri’s first inning grand slam helped pace the Minutemen to an 11-5 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee at IMG.
Junior leftfielder Curt Szado added two hits of his own as well, while sophomore righty Matt Torra threw seven strong innings, scattering nine hits and striking out six for his second win of the season.
Thursday saw the Maroon and White bats present early and often, as Reynolds clouted a pair of round trippers and had three RBI in a 15-3 pasting of Wright State.
Junior rightfielder Jason Twomley and senior third baseman Adam Stojanowski both chipped in with three hits, with the latter also collecting an RBI, to lead an offensive arsenal that included six players collecting multiple hits.
Sophomore right-hander Jeremy Demers started and earned the win, tossing seven innings of seven-hit, three-run ball while striking out six and retiring 27 of the 30 batters he faced.
In perhaps their most impressive victory of the trip, the Minutemen rode a 10-inning, complete game performance from senior right-hander Eric Chown to outlast the University of Iowa 4-2 on Wednesday.
In earning his second win of the season, Chown scattered eight Hawkeye hits and surrendered just one earned run while striking out three.
Curreri posted two hits on the afternoon, including the eventual game-winning RBI double with two outs in the 10th.
Things did not begin well down south for UMass, however, as South Florida swept a three-game series from the Minutemen by scores of 8-5, 11-4 and 7-5 in Tampa.
