The Massachusetts baseball team scored more runs in its series against Saint Joseph’s over the weekend than it has all season.
The Minutemen (10-9-1, 2-1 Atlantic 10) scored a total of 49 runs against the Hawks (13-14, 1-2 A10), on top of winning two of three against their first conference opponent. In the first game of the series on Friday, UMass scored 23 runs and continued to pound at the Saint Joseph’s pitchers and defense in the double header on Saturday. UMass also combined for 52 hits in the series.
Cole Hebble was a name to be remembered in the series. On Friday he hit a single, double, and home run, leaving him just short of hitting for the cycle, being unable to hit a triple. Hebble totaled seven runs batted in on five hits on Friday alone. He combined for seven hits in 18 innings of play in the doubleheader.
“If he’s not the national offensive player of the week then somebody we’re not aware of had to have done something really special. I don’t have all the stats, but he was 5-for-6 in two of three of these games,” UMass head coach Matt Reynolds said. “You couldn’t get the kid out, so he was a huge part of this weekend and I think certainly A-10 offensive player of the week, I think that’s a lock.”
Nolan Tichy has become UMass’ go to pinch-hitter due to his performance this season, especially in the series against Saint Joseph’s. Whenever the Minutemen needed to add runs in the series, Tichy would come into to pinch hit. Despite not making the starting lineup in the three-game series, Tichy continued to make his presence known on the field.
In Friday’s game, the infielder stepped up to bat in the sixth inning where he singled to score a runner. Later in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, Tichy was sent up to bat in a tie game. He singled to left field, but advanced to second on a fielding error. Due to Tichy’s hit, he sent two runners home to give the Minutemen a 13-11 lead.
Despite the score, UMass needed to come from behind in its wins. Due to pitching struggles, the game started off 4-2 heading into the bottom of the second inning, but as the Minutemen’s offense started to wake up they started to beat up at the Hawk’s pitchers. In the sixth inning alone UMass added six runs onto its’ already big lead to end the game 23-7.
Then in the first game of the double header on Saturday, the Minutemen were down for most of the game until they slowly started to chip away at the Hawk’s. The last few innings of the game were all UMass, scoring eight runs in that stretch.
Despite not being able to get the job done in the second game on Saturday, the Minutemen had a seventh inning rally that scored them seven runs to tie the game up 13-13. After adding one run in the inning from a single from Mike Gervasi, the momentum shifted for UMass.
Drew DeMartino worked a walk that proved costly for Saint Joseph’s. Will MacLean came up to bat, with already hitting a homerun and having a few hits on the series. MacLean hit a single to send a runner home, then Dylan Judd hit a double to send a runner home, while also moving MacLean up to scoring position. After that, with an error against the Hawks and a few singles and fly outs, the score was tied. In the end, the Minutemen could not come back due to the pitching struggles in the game.
“It’s good to have that in your back pocket, that’s not going to happen all the time,” Reynolds said on the seventh inning rally. “It’s great as we start A-10 play here to prove to ourselves that we’re never out of any game, so that’s a positive take away from the entire weekend.”
The Minutemen will travel to Cambridge on Tuesday, April 5 to take on Harvard University in the Beanpot opening round. First pitch will be at 3 p.m.
Kayla Gregoire can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Kaygregoire.
