As it heads into the bulk of its conference schedule this month, the Massachusetts baseball team has come out of its home series against the New Jersey Institute of Technology showing some signs of improvement.
Though they lost their final matchup with the Highlanders in extra innings, the Minutemen (3-14) took two of three against NJIT to claim their first series of the season.
It was also the first series this season where the team was a contender in each game.
“They were some pretty good games where we scored a bunch of runs,” said UMass coach Mike Stone. “We got two wins and I definitely thought we should have won the third one. From the standpoint that we got two out of three, I thought that was progress.”
After scoring just 31 in their first 14 games of the season, the Minutemen scored a total of 18 runs in their three games with the Highlanders.
“I think that there are a number of people that need to start to get on rolls and do well,” added Stone. “Just one guy isn’t going to be enough. I expect more from the offense hopefully really soon.”
The UMass offense was arguably at its most impressive during its 10-4 win in the first game of the NJIT series. The 10-run output was a season high.
Still, the Minutemen find themselves last in the Atlantic 10 in a number of offensive categories, including runs (49), slugging percentage (.280), hits (129), runs batted in (40) and doubles (15).
UMass is batting just .227 as a team on the season, as well.
“You know how it is in baseball,” said Stone. “We need to have a team effort as far as offensive improvement is concerned.”
UMass baseball finding troubles on the road
The Minutemen have also had a tough time playing away from Earl Lorden Field in Amherst this season.
UMass has a 1-13 record on the road this year, having been outscored 93-31 in those games.
“You always do better at home, that’s the way that it is for all teams,” said Stone. “We’ve always played a lot of games on the road early in the season.”
The Minutemen will need to start getting comfortable playing away from home if they are to stay competitive in the conference standings, as they have 15 more Atlantic 10 games road games slated on the schedule.
Chris Corso can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Corso.
