The Massachusetts baseball team battled in an eventful four-game series against Navy, winning the first pair of games and losing the final two. The Midshipmen (5-9) walked off the Minutemen (5-5-1) in the last two games of the series to even out their series record in dramatic fashion.
The final game of the series on Sunday was a 4-3 Navy win. The victory was the second of two Midshipmen walk-offs with the game-winning run being driven in by a single from pinch hitter Henry Mitchell.
After a walk, double and intentional walk loaded the bases, Mitchell pulled a pitch down the right field line for a single, knocking in Ty DePerno from third base to score the game-winning run.
UMass controlled the game early as Justin Masteralexis started strong on the bump, leaving Navy hitless through the third inning and striking out seven batters. The sophomore injured his throwing arm in the fourth inning after giving up a double, hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch.
Mikey Jensen inherited the situation for the Minutemen, loading the bases with a four-pitch walk, then gave up a sacrifice fly and a double which plated three runs for Navy. Jensen pitched three strong innings after that, allowing just one hit in the rest of his outing.
UMass tied the game with solo home runs from Sam Hill in the sixth inning and Jack Beverly in the seventh. With the score tied at three in the top of the ninth, Matt Travisano and Tirado each hit a single to continue UMass’ offensive momentum.
Freshman reliever Spencer Stephens stepped up for the Midshipmen, striking out the next two batters and ultimately got the win after the late game heroics by Mitchell. The final two swing and misses totaled 15 strikeouts for the Minutemen bats on the day.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win the game on the defense and pitching side of it,” head coach Matt Reynolds said. “We had opportunities to score [on Sunday] and couldn’t convert in big spots so that’s the biggest issue that we’re dealing with in our game.”
On Saturday, the series saw a riveting doubleheader composed of two seven-inning games. The second game ended in a 7-6 Navy win for its first walk-off of the series. The Midshipmen were trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh after a solo homer by Marc Willi gave UMass the lead in the top of the inning.
The home squad loaded the bases with a trifecta of singles from Jack Killelea, Evan Brown and Victor Izquierdo. Deperno dug in with the bags full, working a full count before sending a hard ground ball toward third base. The ball hopped past Beverly and into left field, allowing two runs to score as the Navy bench cleared to mob Deperno.
If Beverly fielded the play at third, it could have resulted in a game-ending 5-4-3 double-play.
“[Beverly is] a good third baseman and he’s a good defender, he just made an error,” Reynolds said. “It’s unfortunate to lose that way because I think we had a good opportunity there if we took [the double play] to get out of it.”
The first game of the doubleheader also had late-game drama, this time ending in a 3-2 UMass win. The game was a tactical pitcher’s duel as Callen Powers led the Minutemen with a strong effort through six innings, racking up seven strikeouts while allowing just two runs.
“You feel like you have a chance to win every single time he goes out there,” Reynolds said. “I’m really happy with what [Powers has] done.”
Tyler Grenn pitched all seven innings for the Midshipmen with his only earned runs coming on a two-run shot by Carter Hanson in the first inning. The unearned run was the one that cost Navy the game.
After a single by Willi, Kyle Hoog was placed at first to pinch-run. Hoog advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, then to third on a ground out to first base. Braden Sullivan came to the plate for UMass with two outs and Hoog on third.
Sullivan hit it toward the 5-6 gap as Brown, the Midshipmen third baseman, booted it off his glove. Hoog scored UMass’ go-ahead run because of this error, securing its second win of the series.
In the first game of the series on Friday, the Minutemen won 8-5 after going down early on. Robbie O’Connor had an interesting outing as UMass’ starter, seeing five runs score for Navy in the first three innings, but allowing just one hit and a walk over the next three frames.
That defensive mastery bought time for the Minutemen offense to find its rhythm and they did in the top of the fifth. UMass batted through the order, scoring four runs in the inning to take the lead. Hanson knocked in Beverly as the go-ahead run with a double to right-center field.
The pitching success continued for the Minutemen as Andrew Middleton came in for the final three innings. Middleton closed the game with nine strikeouts, cleanly striking out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season and UMass’ first win of the series.
After dropping the final two games against the Midshipmen, UMass will look to get back in the win column against Holy Cross on Tuesday, March 11 at 5 p.m.
Tym Brown can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @tym_brown1.
