When the Massachusetts baseball team throws its last pitch of the 2025 season, it will cap off a special 45 years of lifelong memories in the Atlantic 10 conference. For almost five decades, UMass helped make baseball a staple sport in the A-10. Let’s look back at some of the shining moments that made A-10 baseball what it is today.
The top moments of UMass baseball stem from the 1990s. The Minutemen won back-to-back A-10 championships in 1995 and 1996. Their lineup had some of the best hitters UMass has ever seen. It all started with Bill Knight, the 1995 A-10 player of the year. He ranks No. 10 in games played in UMass history, as well as No. 3 in hits, No. 2 in runs batted in and No. 1 in home runs. In the 1995 season, Knight hit 19 home runs, powering the Minutemen to an A-10 championship.
Brad Gorrie joined Bill Knight as one of the staples of a spectacular era of teams. His speed highlighted his exceptional four-year career between 1994 and 1997. His pivotal 98 stolen bases clear any other player in UMass history, leaving him at No. 1 in the category by a solid margin.
Without pitching, though, it is hard to win games. Jason Bennett took care of that problem. His 1995 season was one of the greatest statistical displays of pitching the conference has ever seen. He is one of three players ever in the conference to finish a season with a perfect win percentage. His 8-0 record in 1995 put him in the A-10 record books for the best win percentage ever. He also sits No. 2 in UMass history for wins and winning percentage.
The 1990s were the golden era, but the first time the Minutemen touched conference hardware was 1980. In fact, they grabbed multiple trophies in just one year. When UMass entered the A-10 conference 45 years ago, it was departing the Yankee Conference at the same time. Instead of competing in one conference, the team decided to compete in both and ended up winning in each.
The Minutemen entered the tournament that year as a highly ranked team, earning them a first-round bye. They started the tournament off with a 13-3 rout of George Washington. Then they played Rutgers in the second round, beating them 17-6, which sent them to the tournament final. The tournament had a double-elimination structure, so the Minutemen faced off against the Scarlet Knights for a second game in a row in the championship.
Chris Collins was on the bump to start. He had a special campaign up to that point, leading the staff in wins with six and earned run average, at 2.90. His magic propelled UMass to its first A-10 crown. The Minutemen dominated Rutgers 12-0 in the win. Mark Brown and Doug Aylward contributed to that team at the plate. Aylward finished the season with a .400 batting average, which ranks No. 6 in UMass’ single-season history.
The trio helped the Minutemen finish 19-13-2 on the year, with a 7-3 record winning them the Yankee Conference as well.
All of this success would not have been possible without the legendary Dick Bergquist. The UMass Hall of Famer coached in Amherst for 20 years and faced the daunting task of replacing his predecessor, Earl Lorden. Bergquist’s No. 26 was retired and will never be seen on the back of a white or maroon jersey again. He was the winningest coach in program history, finishing with a lifetime record of 392-321-5 and was instrumental in gathering the A-10 championship crown in 1980. After an A-10 runner-up campaign in 1987, Bergquist called it quits. He entered the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1989.
After Bergquist came Mike Stone. The passing of the torch commenced. Stone helped the Minutemen to their second straight conference finals appearance in his first year at the helm. Once Bergquist’s roster couldn’t assist Stone, it took two years of rebuilding and development for him to get the team he needed to win; and win they did. UMass advanced to at least the semifinal of the A-10 tournament from 1994 to 2003.
In 1994, the Minutemen collected a regular-season title, their first piece of silverware since the 1980 season. They followed that up with two straight conference tournament championships, as well as two NCAA tournament appearances. In the next three campaigns, UMass earned A-10 Eastern Division honors in all of them. In 2001, they finished as A-10 regular season champions. The final year of what seemed to be an endless period of success was in 2003. The Minutemen won the regional conference championship and finished as runner-up in the A-10 tournament.
Stone finally passed the torch in 2018 to current coach, Matt Reynolds. He hasn’t yet entirely replicated what his three predecessors did, but his teams have shown signs of what UMass baseball once was. In 2024, a lot of people had the Minutemen down and out in many A-10 preseason polls. Reynolds and his team powered through conference play to give them a No. 6 finish in the standings, a positive conference record for the first time in 12 years and an A-10 tournament appearance.
Three conference championships, four regional conference championships and three regular season championships later, the Minutemen leave behind a trail of memorable legends and moments for a lifetime. From program greats Knight and Gorrie, to the geniuses of Bergquist and Stone behind it, UMass baseball has an incredible legacy to carry into the Mid-American Conference in 2026.
Zeke Altman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @EzekielAltman.
