The Massachusetts baseball team is headed to the Atlantic 10 Tournament after its series win over Saint Louis on Saturday. The trip to the A-10 Tournament marks the Minutemen’s (24-27, 13-11 A-10) first playoff trip in 12 years.
UMass’ most dominant win came on Friday, its second game of the series when it took a 6-0 win over Saint Louis (37-14, 16-8 A-10). Justin Masteralexis put up a strong seven inning performance on the mound, allowing just two hits, two walks and striking out five batters for the day.
Zack Given closed out the game for UMass and did not allow a run to cross the plate, completing a shutout.
Mike Gervasi led the offense, going 2-4 with two RBIs and a run. Gervasi has continued to be a leader on offense as he is second in batting average. The designated hitter currently sits at a .306 batting average with 42 RBIs. Kevin Skagerlind went 2-5 and scored three runs. In total, the Minutemen had eight hits, compared to the Billiken’s four hits.
What cemented UMass’ trip to the A-10 Tournament was its 5-2 Saturday win on its senior day. 12 seniors were honored on Saturday before the game. Robbie O’Connor started on the mound for the Minutemen and allowed just two runs in seven innings. Andrew Middleton came in to pitch the final two innings of the game, giving up two hits and striking out three batters. Middleton got UMass out of a jam in the seventh inning with a runner in scoring position, as Middleton struck out the Saint Louis batter for the Minutemen to keep their two run lead. The save marks Middleton’s third of the season.
O’Connor and Masteralexis have been strong on the mound for UMass as starters, both having the lowest ERAs of the starting rotation. O’Connor’s season ERA is 4.44 in 71 innings pitched and Masteralexis at 4.14 in 50 innings pitched.
Braden Sullivan had a 3-4 day, scoring two runs and an RBI, along with hitting a double. Skagerlind, Gervasi and Matt Travisano also had multi-hit games that helped UMass to the win.
Friday morning was the only loss the Minutemen took during the series, losing 8-3 after pitching struggles. Renn Lints took the mound for 5.1 innings and gave up five runs and nine hits, walking two. Callen Powers came in relief and allowed five hits and three runs to cross the plate.
The offense also struggled with both the top and bottom of the lineup not finding a hit for the game. Travisano and Sullivan were the only players to have a multi-hit day, both going 2-4. Sullivan and Nolan Tichy had the only two RBIs on Friday.
UMass tried to comeback in the ninth inning with scoring two runs, but Saint Louis’ offense was too much to overcome.
The Minutemen will travel to Tysons, Virginia on Tuesday, May 21 to take on No. 3 Dayton at 7:00 p.m. for the first round of the A-10 Tournament. UMass and Dayton have yet to play one another this year.
Kayla Gregoire can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Kaygregoire.
