The Massachusetts baseball team will look to tighten up its play against the Richmond Spiders this weekend in Virginia. The Minutemen (9-17-1, 3-9 Atlantic 10) struggled in their recent homestand, going 2-7 and finishing with seven straight losses.
In its last nine games, UMass has been outscored 91-47. The Minutemen dropped to No. 11 of 12 in the Atlantic 10 in team overall batting average after Wednesday’s loss to Fairfield. Their woes out of the bullpen continue to hurt them late, as UMass bullpen pitchers have received the loss in five of their last six games.
Although the results haven’t been going the way of the Minutemen, they are preparing to face a Richmond (22-9, 5-7 A-10) team that has lost five out of its last six.
The Spiders’ pitching staff has their bright spots in Ryan Bilka and Esteban Rodriguez, but they’ve lacked depth. Their earned run average in conference play sits at a season-low 10.04, which is second-last in the A-10.
Hitting hasn’t been the main problem for UMass, giving it a chance to capitalize off Richmond’s recent struggles. In the last game of its homestand against Fairfield, four Minutemen batters finished with multi-hit games. Right fielder Carter Hanson ended the game with three hits.
Hanson continues to be one of the leaders for UMass at the plate. He’s registered six hits in his last four games, along with three walks. The senior outfielder has shown improvement throughout the season, even when things weren’t going his way. Going into the prior A-10 series, Hanson had a batting average of .250. Every game since, he has improved his batting average to the .273 it currently stands at.
Hanson’s efforts will be difficult against the Spiders’ finest, Ryan Bilka. The junior right-hander has risen to No. 3 in A-10 earned run average at 2.33, which is accompanied by a .175 opponent batting average.
Chase Topolski joins Bilka as the only two Richmond players to have pitched over 30 innings this season. Topolski doesn’t have the numbers that his counterpart does, but he has produced in big moments for the Spiders this year. He still sits close to the top in the A-10 ERA leaderboard, at No. 16 with a 6.06 mark. He has struck out 26 batters throughout the campaign with his vast arsenal of pitches and arm angles.
The Minutemen’s pitching staff has been thin without Andrew Middleton and Justin Masteralexis. Callen Powers and Robbie O’Connor have been go-to guys for game one and two of series, but head coach Matt Reynolds hasn’t found a consistent third starter with the absence of Middleton and Masteralexis. At times, Reynolds has gone to Sam Belliveau, but freshman Drew Sliwkowski has also made starts in third games. Expect all of these arms to play a role over the weekend.
Richmond’s bats don’t make it easy to pitch to, as the Spiders possess five bats within the top 20 in A-10 batting average.
Phil Bernstein leads Richmond in the category with an overall average of .419 on the season. His consistency has helped the Spiders prosper, as the graduate outfielder has recorded a hit in all but three games played.
Aaron Whitley, Richmond’s center fielder, has provided a spark recently for the Spiders. In their last three matchups, he has gathered six base hits. On Sunday against Rhode Island, he finished the day with four hits and an RBI on five at-bats.
The series begins on Friday, April 11 at 2 p.m. in Richmond. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Zeke Altman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @EzekielAltman.
