UMass Baseball Takes Two From Dayton In A-10 Opener

April 1, 2000

Game #1

UMass 151 260 0 - 15 15 3

Dayton 010 300 1 - 5 8 3

Veracka and Morgan. McFarland, Schultz (4), Shean (6), Hahnenberg (7) and Vogel. W - Veracka (2-1). L - McFarland (1-5). 2B - Kulak, Morgan, Anderson, Seed, Senez. HR - O'Connell, Vogel. SB - Skeffington, Kulak, Gorneault, Senez, G. Clark.

Game #2

UMass 103 211 0 - 8 10 1

Dayton 302 002 0 - 7 8 2

Santos, Samolewicz (6), Skirkanich (6) and Morgan. Bracken, Scott (6) and Vogel. W - Santos (2-2). L - Bracken (1-1). S - Skirkanich (2). 2B - Senez, G. Clark. HR - G. Clark, Reesh, Vogel. SB - Skeffington 3, Berigan. CS - Skeffington, Kulak.

DAYTON, Ohio. - Sophomore Mike Kulak (Bristol, Conn.) drove in six runs and had four of UMass' 25 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Dayton on Saturday afternoon. The Minutemen improve to 10-8 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic 10. The Flyers drop to 7-18 overall and 2-3 in the conference with the losses.

The UMass bats came to life early on in the first game, scoring 15 runs in the first five innings, cruising to a 15-5 win behind a strong pitching performance by senior Travis Veracka (Stow, Mass.). The Minutemen scored five runs in the second inning and six in the fifth inning behind Kulak's timely hitting. In the second, Kulak lined a two-out single to center, scoring Gavin Clark (Springfield, Mass.) and John Seed (New Bedford, Mass.). Kulak came through again in the fifth, hitting a double to the left-center gap, knocking in Clark and Shaun Skeffington (Fall River, Mass.) to put the Minutemen ahead 11-4 at that point.

Veracka went the distance for his second win of the year, giving up two earned runs on eight hits while striking out seven. Jason McFarland took the loss for the Flyers, giving up seven runs on seven hits in three innings of work.

In the nightcap, Gavin Clark hit his first home run of the season and scored three runs, leading the Minutemen to a 8-7 win. Clark's solo homer followed by RBI singles by Chris Morgan (Cranston, R.I.) and Kevin O'Connell (Hartland, Vt.) put the Minutemen up 4-3 after the UMass half of the third inning. In a game that saw five lead changes, Kulak put UMass on top for good with a one out single in the top of the sixth inning, driving in Clark for the game-winning RBI.

Sophomore Jesse Santos (Chelmsford, Mass.) earned the win, pitching five and one-third innings while giving up six earned runs and striking out four, improving to 2-2 this season. Junior Nick Skirkanich (Chesire, Conn.) picked up his second save of the season, pitching one and two-thirds innings of no-hit relief while fanning two Flyer batters. Kris Bracken took the loss for Dayton, dropping to 1-1 on the year.

The Minutemen will resume the three-game series with the Flyers tomorrow in Dayton with a single nine-inning game starting at Noon.

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Team Stats

Morgan

Kulak

Senez

Anderson

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics