The Massachusetts baseball team lost its weekend series to St. Bonaventure, winning the third contest of its last away games before it returns home for its final series. The Minutemen (14-31-1, 7-20 Atlantic 10) dropped at least two games in a three-game series in every conference matchup this season.
UMass struggled to match the Bonnies’ (18-28, 9-18- A-10) offensive production in all but the third game. Picking up a win in the final meeting, the Minutemen trailed the entire game. They came back with a three-run ninth inning and did not allow a tying run from St. Bonaventure in the bottom of the inning.
Anthony Tirado recorded a career-high two home runs and four runs in the contest. The redshirt freshman went 3-for-4 at bat. In the ninth inning, after Zack Zaetta singled to right field, Tirado brought them both home, tying up the game 8-8.
Tirado’s three RBIs in the game were matched by Carter Hanson, the two tying for the highest RBIs of any UMass player through the series. Hanson also put up the single RBI in the first game and one RBI and one run in the last contest, his third three-game series this season with RBIs in each meeting.
The Minutemen opened the scoring in the first inning after Jack Beverly’s hit brought Tirado home. St. Bonaventure answered with four straight two-run innings, putting up the eight runs that it could not add to in the final five frames.
On a sacrifice fly from Beverly, Matt Travisano crossed the plate to close out the scoring for UMass, finishing with a 9-8 victory.
In the first meeting, St. Bonaventure’s batters put up impressive performances. It scored eight runs on homers through the match, with a grand slam from David Marshall Jr. in the sixth inning. The senior was a force for the Bonnies through the series, putting up seven RBIs in the first two games and two runs in each of the contests, leading his team.
Chance Moore pitched his first complete game for the Bonnies in Friday’s meeting for their 10-1 victory. Through 118 pitches, the redshirt senior only let up six hits.
Bobby McDonough picked up his first win for the Minutemen in the final game, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing one hit and no runs on 35 pitches. The team put up 11 hits in the contest, and the Bonnie pitchers did not walk any batters through the nine innings.
Pitching was a deciding factor in every meeting, and Robbie O’Connor and Callen Powers spent the most time on the mound for UMass, pitching six innings in the first and second games, respectively. Powers allowed nine hits on 98 pitches for seven St. Bonaventure runs. O’Connor had five strikeouts in the first game of the series.
UMass’ scoring production steadily picked up through the series, working from one run in the first contest to five in the second and a game-winning nine in the third.
Braden Sullivan scored the lone run in the first matchup off a double from Hanson in the third frame.
The Minutemen gave up four runs off errors, two in each of the final two games, while St. Bonaventure conceded none.
On Thursday, UMass is set to face VCU for the first match of the team’s final A-10 series. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ as UMass takes to Earl Lorden Field for the last time this season.
Caroline Burge can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Caroline_Burge.
