The Massachusetts baseball team dropped a heartbreaker to Fairfield, closing its homestand with its seventh straight loss. The 10-8 loss for the Minutemen (9-17-1, 3-9 Atlantic 10) was the second game in a row where they forfeited the lead in the final inning.
“It’s been the same story, we’ve generally scored enough where you can hope you can win a game,” head coach Matt Reynolds said. “Unfortunately, our bullpen has not been able to hang on, so hopefully we can have some guys step up.”
Mikey Jensen took the mound for UMass as the Stags (23-8, 10-2 MAAC) trailed 8-7 in the top of the ninth inning. The junior right-hander walked the first two batters, then allowed a bunt single to Nick Sturino to load the bases for Fairfield with no outs.
After working TJ Schmalzle to a 1-2 count, Jensen spiked a pitch into the dirt, deflecting off of Ryan Kolben behind the dish and allowing Jack Byrne to score the game-tying run from third. Schmalzle skyed a ball into right field later in the at-bat for a sacrifice fly as Sean Meth tagged up from third to put Fairfield ahead 9-8.
Sturino moved up to third on the play, but didn’t stay there for long. Nolan Colby laid a bunt down the third base line as Jack Beverly flipped the ball to Kolben, who couldn’t hold on for the play at the plate. This successful squeeze play for the Stags gave them an insurance run heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Dylan Terwilliger picked up the final out of the ninth for the Minutemen with a strikeout, giving their bats one more chance to come out victorious. Carter Hanson led off with a single, but none of UMass’ previous offensive prowess followed. Will Fox set down three straight batters for Fairfield as he collected his first save of the season.
This capped off a successful seven-run comeback for the Stags after trailing 8-1 heading into the seventh inning. Fairfield’s resurgence started in the seventh inning as a walk by Sturino and a double from Schmalzle put two runners in scoring position. Adam Merritt inherited these runners as he came in for Michael Aceto after four innings of work.
The freshman reliever started strong with two straight outs, the second being a sacrifice fly to left field by JP Kuczik. With two down in the inning and a runner on second, Merrit walked four straight batters. This allowed a run to score and loaded the bags for the designated hitter, Tyler Kipp. Between walks and hit batters, the Minutemen issued 14 free passes throughout the game.
Kipp fired a hard ground ball through the hot corner, scoring a pair of runs as the Stags ended the inning down 8-5. The visitors’ hot bats came back out quickly after an uneventful bottom of the seventh for UMass’ offense.
Bobby McDonough set down the first batter for the Minutemen, then saw Schmalzle reach base on an error at shortstop by Jack Peters. Colby drew a walk, advancing into scoring position on a wild pitch in the next at-bat while Schmalzle moved up to third. Kuczik knocked in one run with a single through the right side of the infield, putting runners on the corners for Dean Ferrara.
Ferrara lined out deep to center field with just enough distance for Colby to tag up from third, making it an 8-7 UMass lead. This scoring outburst from Fairfield was completely expected given how the Minutemen had dominated the game up to that point.
UMass’ scoring started in the second inning with a three-run homer from Sam Hill, far over the ivy in left-center field. As the lineup turned over, the scoring continued as Beverly knocked in Braden Sullivan with a double, eventually scoring on a passed ball himself.
Marc Willi hit a solo shot to right in the third inning, followed by a two-run homer from Kolben in the fourth to end the scoring parade. Ben Thomason and Aceto held the Stags to one run through six innings, with a solo blast by Sturino being their only hit.
“We seem to score a lot between innings one through four, [I would] like to see us continue to go a little bit more later in the game,” Reynolds said. “It’s good to see, couple [of] home runs, every single starter had at least one hit, that was nice, wasn’t enough.”
The Minutemen didn’t score in the final five frames, letting the Fairfield bats heat up and eventually take over the game.
UMass looks to snap its seven-game losing streak when they take to the road to play Richmond this weekend. The three-game series will start on Friday, April 11, at 2 p.m. Those games will be available to watch on ESPN+.
Tym Brown can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @tym_brown1.
