Nolan Tichy came into the Massachusetts baseball team’s midweek games determined to make a difference.
In two games — and two wins — the junior hit three home runs against Hartford and Siena. Tichy holds the team high in homers on the season with seven.
“Just my approach,” Tichy said on what was working for him. “Trying to stay middle, not do too much which usually equates to me doing more. Yeah, feeling pretty good in the box.”
The Minutemen (8-25, 1-11 Atlantic 10) came into the week off a three-game sweep to Saint Joseph’s and needed a refresh. With the help of Tichy, UMass goes into its next weekend series with a two-game win streak, which the Minutemen haven’t had since the first two games of the season.
To start the game on Wednesday, Kevin Skagerlind worked a walk to get on base as the leadoff man. Tichy stepped up to the plate and swung at the first pitched he faced. Tichy sent the ball over the right centerfield wall, giving UMass an early 2-0 lead in the first inning.
“He crushed the ball today, great to see him hit a ball over the right center field wall, just going the other way because he gets a lot of break in that stuff,” UMass coach Matt Reynolds said. “Hopefully he’s clicking right now that was a really positive day for him overall.”
An inning later, Tichy was back at the plate, looking for his next hit of the day to extend the Minutemen’s lead. Skagerlind and Will MacLean were on the corners with one out in the inning. Tichy hit the ball over the fence once again to put UMass up 7-0 and grab five RBIs to end the first two innings.
With the confidence that the junior had brought from the first two innings, it was evident he came to the plate with less weight on his shoulders. Tichy’s next at-bat was a long single to right field that scored Skagerlind. The single put him at six RBIs, accounting for most of the runs in the game.
“Gives me a lot of confidence, especially with [Tuesday’s] performance,” Tichy said. “I just had a lot of confidence coming into today. As the game went on I just became even more comfortable in the box.”
After the single, Tichy stole second base to put him in scoring position. In a later inning, he walked to keep him at 3-4. His performance came after a 3-5 day on Tuesday where he hit a two-run home run along with two singles.
Tichy ended his game against the Saints (9-33, 3-9 Metro Atlantic Athletic) with a .294 batting average, putting him in third place for the team lead in batting average, behind Steve Luttazi and Hanson.
“One of the biggest things was Tichy was awesome [Wednesday],” Reynolds said. “He had a couple bad AB’s [Tuesday] then he randomly bunted for a hit which was fantastic, that’s usually not in his repertoire.”
Along with Tichy’s offense, he has been a reliable left fielder for UMass this season. When the ball comes his way, the Minutemen can be comfortable that he will catch the ball. With a .951 fielding percentage, Tichy is a reliable option for UMass at left field.
Kayla Gregoire can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Kaygregoire.
