With Tuesday’s home contest with Connecticut postponed due to poor conditions at Earl Lorden Field, the Massachusetts baseball team was forced to make up the contest as part of a doubleheader yesterday in Storrs, Conn., and the results were as mixed as the Amherst weather.
With head coach Mike Stone saving his top starters for the weekend, sophomore righthander Jason Hickey struggled mightily as the Minutemen (10-10 2-4 Atlantic 10) dropped the second game 9-2, while freshman righthander Devin Barnett tossed a complete game shutout to pace UMass to a 3-0 win in game one.
The Maroon and White return to action this weekend, when it will travel to Norristown, Penn. for an Atlantic 10 series with St. Joseph’s.
Senior tri-captain Mike Athas and sophomore catcher Frank Curreri paced the UMass offense with three hits on the afternoon, while senior tri-captain Matt Reynolds, classmate Adam Stojanowski and junior outfielder Curt Szado all chipped in with a pair of hits.
On the mound, Hickey was roughed up for five hits and six runs in two-thirds of an inning in the second game, and was pulled in favor of junior righthander Anthony Gallo after facing just nine hitters.
Barnett, meanwhile, allowed six hits to just four different batters while striking out one and walking one in seven scoreless innings to post the first complete game shutout of his young career. He is now 2-0 on the season with an earned run average of 3.57.
The Huskies (17-13 5-5 Big East) were lead offensively by junior first baseman Jeff Hourigan’s four hits and two runs batted in in the two games, while senior infielder Dave Tokarz, sophomore outfielder Bryan Maler and freshman infielder Dennis Donovan all collected a pair of RBI in the second contest.
Starting pitcher Rich Sirois lasted five innings, giving up four hits and two runs while walking one and striking out none to earn the win in game two. In the first game, Josh MacDonald allowed seven hits and three runs, walked one and struck out three in a losing effort.
The Huskies opened the flood gates early in the latter contest, as Hourigan began the onslaught with a bases loaded RBI single to right field that made the score 1-0. Tokarz and Maler then followed with back-to-back two-run singles before Donovan ripped a line drive to left to plate the Huskies sixth run and chase Hickey from the contest.
The Minutemen closed the gap in the fourth, as Szado drove in Athas and Curreri with a single through the right side that made it 6-2 in favor of UConn.
Connecticut did not let up, however, as the Huskies tacked on two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to push their lead to 9-2 before quelling UMass rallies in the sixth and seventh innings to seal the victory.
Game one was a scoreless affair until the fourth inning, when Stojanowski drove in Reynolds with a two-out single that gave UMass a 1-0 lead.
The Maroon and White capped its scoring in the fifth as Athas drove a one-out single up the middle to score freshman second baseman Anthony Santos and sophomore leftfielder Bill Rankin and increase UMass’ lead to 3-0.
