The Massachusetts baseball team will have two days off before it begins a six-day stretch of games beginning on Friday.
UMass (9-15, 3-3 Atlantic 10) was scheduled to play Boston College at Earl Lorden Field on Wednesday, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather. The Minutemen will have Wednesday and Thursday off before traveling to Philadelphia, Pa., to take on Temple for a three-game A-10 series. UMass did not play the Owls (15-14, 2-7 A 10) last season, so the majority of this year’s roster is unfamiliar with the current team.
Following its series against the Owls, UMass will make up its game against Connecticut at home and then travel Central Connecticut State on Tuesday and finally to Lowell for the first round of the Bean Pot Tournament on Wednesday, April 20.
The Minutemen currently sit in seventh in the A-10 standings while the Owls are last in the conference. UMass has dropped its last three games, including two conference games against Dayton and most recently a non-conference matchup versus Siena.
In its last three losses, UMass has been outscored 23-14. The Minutemen’s last win came in their home-opener, when they defeated the Flyers (17-16, 4-2 A-10), 9-5.
Temple, which is also coming off a cancellation, is looking to get back on the winning page, as it has dropped four consecutive games, all against A-10 opponents. La Salle swept the Owls over the weekend, outscoring them, 27-13. Before that, the Owls lost to Saint Joseph’s, 4-3, on April 5.
UMass pitching will be tested against the Owls, who feature 11 players hitting over .300 and a .347 team batting average. Senior Adrian Perez is leading the team in hits with 50, while fellow senior Ryan Ferguson is leading the team in home runs and RBIs with seven and 37, respectively.
Temple features three starting pitchers in junior Brant Norlander, senior Ben White and freshman Matt Hockenberry. Norlander is currently 3-2 with a 4.89 ERA. As an entire staff, the Owls have a 5.83 ERA compared to their opposition’s 7.37 ERA.
Following their series with Temple, the Minutemen will host the Huskies (17-12-1, 7-2 in Big East) on Monday at Earl Lorden Field. UMass last played UConn on April 6, dropping the game, 7-1, in Storrs, Conn.
The Minutemen managed eight hits in the game with Tom Conley going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and an RBI while Rich Graef went 2-for-4. Robert Machado was charged with the loss but freshman Aaron Plunkett showed strength, striking out four batters while giving up a run in three innings of relief.
The Huskies have fared well on the road this season, with a 9-4 record. UConn relies on a strong offense led by senior Mike Nemeth and juniors George Springer, Tim Martin, Ryan Fuller and Nick Ahmed, who all hit over .300.
Another strength comes from the mound in Matt Barnes, who boasts a 1.03 ERA in eight starts to go along with a 6-2 record and Bob Van Woert, who had given up just two earned runs in 24.1 innings pitched over his four starts. The two lights-out starters highlight a pitching staff that boasts an ERA of 3.11.
The Minutemen’s long-stretch of baseball begins Friday at 3 p.m. Then, UMass will play Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. before returning home to take on the Huskies on Monday at 3 p.m.
Michael Counos can be reached at [email protected].
