The Massachusetts baseball team won one of three games against the Fordham Rams in its first series at Earl Lorden Field this past weekend.
Saturday opened the series with a doubleheader that the Minutemen (11-20, 3-6 Atlantic 10) split. With the one win coming in the second game of the day, UMass put up an impressive offensive performance with 13 hits.
Michael Toth and Austin Burgess had big performances on the day. Toth went 2-3 with a double and a stolen base. The catcher worked a walk and had an RBI. Burgess went 3-4, hitting a home run along with two RBIs. Of the nine batters, eight had at least one hit throughout the nine innings.
Former Minuteman Steve Luttazi made it tough on UMass, going 2-3 with a walk. Left fielder Cian Sahler had two hits in four at-bats, driving in two runners.
Renn Lints started on the mound for the Minutemen, pitching 4.2 innings. He allowed seven hits, five runs and walked two. Leif Bigelow came in for relief and got the win after allowing just three hits, striking out six batters.
With big days on both sides, the Minutemen came out with a 7-5 win against the Rams (13-21, 5-4 A-10).
During the first game on Saturday, offense was solid for UMass, but pitching struggled. The Minutemen totaled 10 hits but starting pitcher Sam Belliveau never settled into the game. In 3.2 innings pitched, the pitcher gave up eight hits and a walk for five runs.
Mikey Jensen came into the game after Belliveau and pitched 5.1 innings. He gave up six runs and two runs.
On the offensive side, Burgess made up for five of the six runs scored by UMass. He had a 3-5 day with two runs scored and five RBIs. Jack Peters was the other RBI on a sacrifice hit. Even with the big day by Burgess, the Minutemen lost the first game 7-6.
Sunday was another close loss with a 6-5 final score. Robbie O’Connor started on the mound and pitched very well in his six innings, giving up just four hits, two walks and three runs. He also had five strikeouts on the day.
Callen Powers came in for relief of O’Connor, but gave up three runs on four hits in just over one inning pitched. After allowing three runs, Powers was marked with the loss for Sunday.
Mike Gervasi had a good day on offense, going 2-4 with four RBIs. Burgess continued his offensive streak with an RBI. A big series from the graduate student, he started the weekend with a .213 batting average and now sits at .270.
While UMass took just one game of the series, the team had a big offensive performance throughout the weekend. The momentum of the offense is something that can be carried into its next game.
The Minutemen have a short break before taking on Sacred Heart at home on Wednesday, April 17. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
Kayla Gregoire can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Kaygregoire.
