In a back-and-forth affair with a trip to Fenway Park on the line, the Massachusetts baseball team rallied in the seventh inning to defeat Harvard 6-5 Monday afternoon at Earl Lorden Field to secure a place in the Beanpot Championship game.
The Minutemen (9-11, 7-5 Atlantic 10) will face Boston College in the championship round April 22. The Eagles topped Northeastern 4-1 on April 8 to secure their spot in the final.
After striking out the side in the first inning, UMass starter Andrew Grant battled control issues for the rest of his outing. Wild pitches in the second and third helped Harvard (16-16, 5-7 Ivy League) take a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth when Minutemen right fielder Adam Picard stepped to the plate with runners on first and second.
The senior then hammered his team-leading second home run of the year over the hedges in left center field, tying the game 3-3. It was his 13th career home run at UMass.
“I was down two strikes, so I was looking off-speed, trying to sit for as long as I could and react to it,” Picard said. “I was lucky enough to square the ball up and put it over the fence.”
Later in the inning, the Minutemen executed a double steal with runners on first and third to take a 4-3 lead. But Harvard would strike back in the top of the fifth.
Two walks and a bunt single loaded the bases for the Crimson and Tanner Anderson worked a two-out walk to tie the game 4-4. But Grant kept his composure and struck out the next batter to escape the inning without any further damage.
“He hung in there and battled all day long,” UMass coach Mike Stone said of Grant after the game.
“He didn’t have much, he struggled with his stuff. He just found a way to give us some innings … we wanted him to finish that inning and fortunately he did. We call that damage control; he did a good job with that.”
Grant finished with five innings pitched, six walks, four earned runs and seven strikeouts, earning a no-decision.
In the sixth, freshman Kevin Hassett took Grant’s place on the mound and struggled initially. Harvard shortstop Drew Reid crushed a solo home run over the scoreboard in left field on the very first at-bat of the inning, putting the Crimson back on top 5-4. It set the stage for the pivotal bottom of the seventh.
After pinch hitter Bryce Maher went from first to third on a single by Minutemen shortstop Vinny Scifo, UMass centerfielder Kyle Adie singled again on a hit and run, allowing Scifo to get from first to third as well while Maher scored. The advancement proved crucial as a wild pitch the next at-bat allowed Scifo to score what wound up being the winning run of the game, giving UMass the 6-5 lead.
The drama was not over, however.
Minutemen reliever Evan Mackintosh recorded the final out of the seventh inning and came back out for the top of the eighth. But Crimson third baseman John Fallon doubled to lead off and a wild pitch put the tying run at third base with just one out. A walk and hit batter loaded the bases with two outs but Mackintosh fooled Ethan Ferreira with a curveball to get a strikeout and end the inning.
“Evan Mackintosh did a nice job. After giving up the home run, Kevin Hassett settled down and gave us two (innings),” Stone said. “We pieced it together … today, we just had to scrap and scrape and the guys on the mound did a good job of doing that for us.”
Mike Geannelis pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the win and earn his second save of the season. Combined, the bullpen went four innings and allowed just one run.
It was the third win in a row for UMass, which improved to 3-1 at Lorden Field this year. Their wins at home have been fueled by timely hitting, something the Minutemen were able to do again on Monday after a weekend of clutch, two-out hits against St. Bonaventure.
Stone said clutch hitting like UMass has delivered can be contagious and Picard agreed about the effect it can have on a team.
“When somebody gets a clutch hit or anything like that, it really brings the team morale up and keeps it going,” Picard said.
The Minutemen return to action Tuesday against Central Connecticut in a makeup of their original meeting which was scheduled for March 3 but was postponed because of the record snow still lingering in the area.
First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. in New Britain, Connecticut.
Ross Gienieczko can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @RossGien
