The Massachusetts baseball team ended its best season in recent history with a 12-2 loss against Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 tournament. The Minutemen (24-29, 13-12 A-10) did not execute timely hits and failed to quell a hot Hawks (27-25, 14-11 A-10) offense.

Early in the action, Mike Gervasi, who was recently named first team all A-10, tied up the game 1-1 with a no doubt blast over the left field wall, his team leading 15th of the season. Saint Joseph’s quickly responded back with one run in the third inning and six runs in the fourth inning, amassing an 8-1 lead. It wasn’t until the seventh inning when Carter Hanson scored Kevin Skagerlind that the UMass offense showed life. Gervasi’s home run and Hanson’s RBI double were the Minutemen’s only runs of the contest.

Saint Joseph’s sealed its victory with a three-run burst in the ninth inning. Max Hitman singled to right center, bringing home Tim Dickinson. Ryan Cesarini added an RBI single up the middle and Ryan Weingartner reached on a fielder’s choice, driving in the final run of the game, sealing the fate of the Minutemen, 12-2.

UMass had 10 hits in the contest but left 12 runners on base. Timely hitting with runners in scoring position has been a point of emphasis for the team all year. The Minutemen were 1-8 at the dish in such situations Wednesday night. Gervasi, Hanson and Nolan Tichy led the team in hits on Wednesday with two hits each.

Defensively, the Minutemen allowed four errors and only seven of the Hawks 12 runs were earned. Defensive woes are no stranger to UMass this year.

Starting pitcher Robbie O’Connor, who was recently named to the all A-10 rookie team, had the start on the mound. He allowed six runs, four earned on four hits with three strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. He also allowed two walks and hit two batters and was credited with the loss. Zack Given, Renn Lints and Andrew Middleton relieved O’Connor and combined for six runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings.

For Saint Joseph’s, two hitters had three hits and combined for five RBIs. Starter Will McCausland went six innings, allowing just two runs with eight strikeouts.

The Hawks move on to face top seeded Saint Louis in another elimination game.

The loss brings an end to the most successful season of the Matt Reynolds era of UMass baseball. The Minutemen made the A-10 Tournament for the first time since 2012 which is also the last year UMass had a record above .500.

Owen Shelffo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @owen_shelffo