The Massachusetts baseball team’s recent surge was slowed by Northeastern yesterday, as the Huskies downed the Minutemen, 8-5, in the annual Beanpot tournament.
UMass (5-18, 3-6 Atlantic 10) had won three of four going into the game, but could not overcome the Huskies’ (7-14, 0-6 Colonial Athletic Association) early 5-2 lead. With the win, NU broke an 11-game losing streak.
Poor defensive play cost the Minutemen, who committed two errors, one by third baseman Peter Copa and the other by starting pitcher Isaac Oakley, who suffered the loss. The errors led to four unearned runs for Oakley, who finished with five innings pitched, allowing six runs (two earned) on six hits and the same amount of strikeouts.
Oakley was the beneficiary of two quick runs that the UMass offense put together in the top of the first, courtesy of senior Brian Baudinet’s two-run triple. However, Oakley and the UMass defense crumbled in the bottom half, relinquishing four runs on three hits and two errors.
“We got off to a decent start and then got sloppy on defense,” UMass coach Mike Stone said. “We weren’t as sharp as we should have been, especially in an important [inning] like that.”
Errors aside, Stone thought Oakley’s start could have been better.
“[Oakley] was okay,” Stone said. “He had better velocity than his last time out, but he got hurt a few times because he left [the ball] up a little bit.”
Northeastern tacked on a pair of runs in the second, fifth and sixth innings to guide starter JT Ross to a cushy win. Ross finished the game with six innings pitched, allowing three runs (zero earned) on four hits and two strikeouts.
“Ross’ results were good but I was still surprised at his line,” Stone said. “I thought we hit him better than [his line] showed.”
UMass’ best inning came in the seventh, when it cut NU’s lead to 7-5. The Minutemen scored two runs on a Husky error and a hit from senior Mike Donato, who was UMass’ top performer, with three hits, two runs scored and a run batted in.
“We had a little bit of a comeback in the seventh inning,” Stone said. “But overall, it was disappointing, especially against a team that had lost 11 in a row. I thought we would have been aggressive and taken advantage of that.”
With the loss, UMass ended its two-game, non-conference road trip at 1-1. The Minutemen defeated Boston College, 8-4, on Tuesday.
“It was two completely different days,” Stone said. “We played a pretty good ballgame against a pretty good team [on Tuesday] and today, we played a poor game against a bad team.”
UMass heads to URI
The Minutemen will compete against conference rival Rhode Island in a three-game set at Earl Lorden Field. The Rams (16-4, 6-3 Atlantic 10) have won six of their last seven, including a 2-1 series win over conference-leading Charlotte.
Rhode Island’s potent offense features multiple players with at least a .300 batting average. Leading the way is junior infielder Tom Coulombe, who leads the team with a .420 average in 30 games. Coulombe’s 27 RBIs also leads the team while his three home runs leave him tied for second. The impressive infielder also shows speed on the diamond, registering a team-leading 11 steals in 16 attempts.
UMass also have to look out for sophomore infielder Mike LeBel, who similarly boasts impressive statistics. LeBel’s .384 average is second to Coulombe, and he leads the team with 36 runs scored, perhaps a direct result of his 11 steals in 14 attempts.
“Rhode Island traditionally has always been aggressive; they like to steal third in addition to stealing second,” Stone said. “We need our pitchers to pay attention to the runners to give our catchers a better chance at throwing them out.”
UMass is looking to continue its hot conference play after a pair of victories over Richmond in a three-game series.
“We need to play well,” Stone said. “They have good players and a good record. We need to rise to the occasion because it’s a big weekend for us.”
UMass pitcher Nick Serino will start on Friday despite a rough outing against Charlotte, when he gave up five runs on seven hits and five walks in just over four innings. It remains uncertain whether or not Serino will deliver a start similar to the one he had on March 27th against Saint Joseph’s, when he pitched eight innings, giving up one run and three hits to go along with 13 strikeouts.
The probable starters for the rest of the series are senior pitchers Jared Freni and Bryan Leigh.
Steve Levine can be reached at [email protected].
