Baseball Defeats Sacred Heart 8-6

April 11, 2001

AMHERST, Mass. -- Freshman shortstop Adam Stojanowski (West Roxbury, Mass.) hit an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the seventh to break a 6-6 tie as the University of Massachusetts baseball team defeated Sacred Heart, 8-6, this afternoon at Earl Lorden Field. UMass improves to 8-11, while Sacred Heart falls to 7-17.

UMass got on the board quick when sophomore second baseman Sean Sarno (Stoneham, Mass.) stole home as junior outfielder Mike Kulak (Bristol, Conn.) stole second to give UMass a 1-0 lead in the first. In the bottom of the second UMass extended its lead to 3-0 when sophomore designated hitter Tim Klett (Chicopee, Mass.) hit a two run home run for his first in his UMass career.

Sacred Heart answered back by scoring four runs in the top of the third to take a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the fourth UMass regained the lead by scoring three runs as senior outfielder Gavin Clark (Springfield, Mass.) hit a two run home run for his fifth of the season and sophomore catcher Tom Ellerbrook (Northampton, Mass.) singled to right field driving in Stojanowski.

Sacred Heart tied the game at six by scoring a run in both the top of the sixth and seventh. Stojanowski's single drove in sophomore first baseman Jeff Altieri (Whitinsville, Mass.) to give UMass a 7-6 lead. Junior outfielder Connell Clark (Springfield, Mass.) hit his second homer of the season in the bottom of the eighth to increase the lead to 8-6.

Freshman righty Eric Chown (Fall River, Mass.) earned his first career UMass win as he pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing no runs on two hits and striking out one. Jim Agostino received the loss for Sacred Heart.

The Minutemen return to action on Thursday, April 12, when they host Northeastern at Earl Lorden Field at 3:00 p.m.

UMass 8, Sacred Heart 6

Sacred Heart (7-17) 004 001 100 -- 6 12 1

UMass (8-11) 120 300 11x -- 8 11 1

UM: Brian Hourigan, Anthony Gallo (3), Eric Chown (7) and Tom Ellerbrook.

SHU: Tom Asta, Jim Agostino (5) and Brian Rojee.

Win: Chown (1-0), Loss: Agostino (0-1), Save: None.

HR: Connell Clark (UM-2), Gavin Clark (UM-5), Tim Klett (UM-1).