Many might not have noticed, but the Massachusetts baseball team is off to its best start in the Atlantic 10 in years.
After taking the weekend series against Saint Louis, UMass (14-14, 8-4 A-10) is over .500 for the first time in mid-April in over a decade. The last time the Minutemen have been this successful early in the season, was in 2001, when they also went 8-4 to start their A-10 schedule.
“We’re starting to really figure out what kind of team we can be this season,” said UMass coach Mike Stone, whose team is on the verge of its first conference tournament appearance since 2009.
Since 2001, the team has had consistent trends of starting off cold during conference play, then finishing strong towards the back end of the schedule.
The team played one conference series in the month of March last season, and took two-of-three at George Washington. UMass would finish 8-15, as it dropped 12 of its last 15 conference games.
“I think we’re starting to figure out what’s working for us,” said Stone. “We’re playing tough, hard, learning what we need to do to execute on all level … but we’re still finding out how good we are.”
The last time the Minutemen finished above .500 in-conference play was 2009. They started off ice cold by going 1-7 to start their A-10 schedule, and dropped three one-run decisions during that span. However, they finished strong, with a 12-3 record, during their last 15 contests.
Considering this group that’s comprised of limited veteran leadership – appearing in the form of seniors Tom Conley behind the plate and Leif Sorenson on the mound, as two examples – mixed with a host of young players, UMass is in a peculiar position as the near future will tell where it ranks among the rest of the conference.
The Minutemen are finding success through a different recipe than in season’s past – more veterans and less underclassmen. This year’s squad is flipping the script with a different cast of characters; deep starting pitching, a young but talented bullpen, timely hitting and a guy to shut the door in the ninth.
With 12 games still on the schedule and a serious chance to compete for something more than just an A-10 tournament appearance, Stone knows that his team has a shot to make noise come mid-May.
“We’re locked in right now,” said Stone. “We have a shot to compete. We just need to keep working.”
Seniors deliver on the mound
Two seniors, Glen Misho and Joe Popielarczyk, are coming up big-time for the Minutemen recently on the mound.
They combined to throw 14.2 innings against the Billikens (26-13, 8-7 A-10) on Saturday and Sunday. The second and third starters in the rotation – with junior Dennis Torres leading the front – is tossing quality outing after quality outing over recent weeks.
“I felt the guys on the mound [against Saint Louis] really competed hard,” said Stone. “They worked well, and really gave us a chance to win late in the games.”
Misho and Popielarczyk have helped lead one of the best staffs in the conference, at least statistically. The Minutemen rank third in ERA (3.69), fourth in opposing batting average (.260), while also leading the conference in fewest hits (243) and runs (130) allowed.
Pitching wins in baseball, and with two guys at the top of their collegiate games helping to fill the middle-to-end of the staff, the argument for UMass as a conference favorite come tournament time isn’t that far off.
Scott Cournoyer can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Cournoyer.
