The Massachusetts baseball team faced off against the No. 13 Virginia Cavaliers for a weekend matchup that featured a big win for UMass (2-5).
Game two of the series was a historical game for the Minutemen, breaking the Cavaliers’ (10-1) 38-game regular season win streak against a non-conference opponent and handing them their first loss of the season. UMass started Sam Belliveau in the win, who started in two of his 17 games played as a Minuteman.
“We have named [Belliveau] our Saturday guy, especially since he threw against Bucknell in the previous weekend,” head coach Matt Reynolds said. “We have him going as one of our weekend guys. He really came out last year after his red shirt year and showed himself to be very competitive. He has really shown himself since the end of last year and he is a bulldog who loves to compete and takes the challenges that come his way.”
The Minutemen wasted no time with a two-run homerun from Carter Hanson during the first inning, giving UMass an early lead. The Minutemen rallied 13 hits on 36 at bats. Matt Travisano went 4-for-5 and had two RBIs and Michael Toth also had a big day, going 4-for-4 while also bringing in two RBIs as well. Belliveau went 5 ⅔ innings, allowing six hits and three runs, finishing the game off with a 4.50 ERA. UMass capitalized on game two winning 10-5, tying the series at 1-1.
In game three on Sunday, Virginia capitalized as UMass went down a quick 6-0 by the third inning. The Minutemen showed life in the fourth inning with a single up the middle to score Jack Beverly. There was no stopping Virginia as it tallied three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. In the seventh inning Sam Hill drove in a run off a single to right field.
In the top of the ninth, the Minutemen started showing life again by recording 4 runs from Austin Burgess blasting a three run double down the left field line. Despite a fight to comeback, Virginia won the game 10-6. In the final loss of the series, the Minutemen had a lot to take away.
“It happens during these games, it is a part of baseball,” Reynolds said. “We were able to capitalize on this in game two. We are able to get ourselves out of jams, but overall, we struggled to capitalize on this in game three. A part of leaving men on base is not having the right approach at the plate sometimes. We had a good push in the ninth inning there, but Virginia was able to put together some really good hits there.”
Game one was a battle of the wings until the fourth, Harrison Didawick walked for Virginia, tallying an RBI for the at bat. Later on in the fourth, Henry Godbout grounded out to second advancing Didawick to send home Anderson to score, causing the Cavaliers to take the lead 2-0.
It was not until the top of the sixth where UMass began to take charge. Kevin Skagerlind started the inning off stealing second base to get into scoring position. Hanson came to bat and reached on an error by the second basemen, cutting the lead in half at 2-1. Gervasi stepped up to the plate and hit a no-doubt home run to left field to take the lead at 3-2.
“It was obviously a big hit and [Gervasi] was actually a pinch hitter in that situation,” Reynolds said. “With the error at second base allowing Skags to score on that was also a huge part of the inning, allowing [Gervasi] to come up in a huge position and put runs up on the board.”
It was a battle of the pitchers up until the bottom of the ninth where Virginia scored the game tying run on a sacrifice fly to center field. Coming into the tenth inning, Virginia capitalized on a single and a stolen base, with Godbout recording a single to the right side and scoring the walk off run for the Cavaliers to take game one 4-3.
UMass finished the series with one win and two losses but can build momentum in its next series against Elon on the road. First pitch is set for Friday, March 8 at 4:00 p.m.
Matt Doyle can be reached [email protected]
