Over the weekend, the Massachusetts baseball team won one of three matchups against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats in what was a series that was decided by late game drama.
In two of the matchups, UMass (1-2) faltered in the bottom of the seventh inning. Despite the issues in the bullpen and the lack of base hits, the Minutemen displayed some excellent starting pitching throughout the weekend.
Although the pitching highs and lows for UMass took the limelight, the hitting woes were at the forefront. The Minutemen produced eight runs over the three matchups on 20 hits and a strikeout total of 36 in the three matchups combined. UMass had 17 alone in Saturday night’s affair.
“The takeaway for the weekend is we were not very good offensively. That had the biggest impact on us,” head coach Matt Reynolds said.
On Friday, UMass fell to the Wildcats 4-3 as the expected opening-day starter Robbie O’Connor took the spotlight. He produced a gem, throwing six innings for zero earned runs and five strikeouts, not allowing a single walk through 21 at-bats.
“[O’Connor] was really good. Kind of what we expected out of him,” Reynolds said. “He is a true number one.”
O’Connor’s performance produced a difficult decision for the coaching staff going into the seventh inning of the first game. With 64 pitches thrown, Reynolds had to decide on allowing O’Connor to go out for another inning or sit him down and put his trust in the bullpen. Reynolds chose the bullpen, and the Wildcats took advantage of the fresh arm.
“[O’Connor] was just getting a little bit tired. We want to make sure he’s ready to go for [Atlantic 10] play,” Reynolds said.
Bethune-Cookman went on to score three runs in that seventh inning courtesy of a passed ball and a Michael Rodriguez double past the third-base hip of Matt Travisano, putting the Wildcats up by three. All of the sudden, a pitching stalemate became Wildcat wonderland.
Saturday was kinder to the Minutemen faithful as they took the victory, 4-3, in extra innings with Callen Powers getting the start. His four innings pitched with four strikeouts and one earned run were solid, but sophomore Andrew Middleton stole the show. The six-foot-two left-hander produced 11 strikeouts in four and a third innings pitched. His zero earned run performance, as well as a tenth inning sacrifice fly from senior Jack Beverly, propelled UMass to its first win of the year.
“It was a really gritty game,” Reynolds said. “We could have easily dropped three if it wasn’t for some unbelievable pitching [Saturday].”
Unfortunately for the Minutemen, Sunday was a similar story to Friday night’s late woes as UMass lost 10-3. Pitching was once again the most robust part of the unit, with redshirt-sophomore Justin Masteralexis getting his first start of the year following his A-10 All-Rookie Team campaign last season. The Amherst native threw five innings with three strikeouts. His three earned runs on the box score might have appeared concerning for some, but Masteralexis showed signs of brilliance and potential on the mound Sunday afternoon.
The bullpen that followed Masteralexis struggled. Andrew Houghton, who came in for the sixth inning, didn’t produce an out while allowing four earned runs off a number of mistakes. Balks, errors and hit batters proved to define a problem-filled seventh inning for Houghton. There were five runs in total scored by Bethune-Cookman in the inning, and it proved to be more than enough to get the Wildcats their second win of the year.
“We are fine. We don’t like to lose as competitors,” Reynolds said about the series loss.
The Minutemen look to respond next weekend when they head to Maryland, facing Coppin State on Friday, Feb 28 at 3 p.m.
Zeke Altman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @EzekielAltman.
