University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Xavier
Baseball Defeats Xavier 8-3
May 13, 2001 | Baseball
May 13, 2001
Cincinnati, Ohio. -- The University of Massachusetts baseball team defeated Xavier 8-3 in its final regular season game, to win the 2001 Atlantic 10 Conference regular season championship. UMass improves to 26-17 on the season and 16-6 in the Atlantic 10, finishing one game ahead of Temple and Dayton with identical 15-7 league marks. Xavier finishes its season with a record of 21-34 overall and 8-14 in the Atlantic 10.
Xavier took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by first baseman Mark Andres, before the Minutemen put three runs on the board in the top of the second. Junior third baseman Aaron Senez (Springfield, Mass.) drove in the first run with an RBI single, before freshman second baseman Adam Stojanowski (West Roxbury, Mass.) added a two-run single.
UMass then took control of the game with a single run in the top of the third and three more runs in the top of the fourth to make the score 7-1. Senior outfielder Gavin Clark (Springfield, Mass.) had an RBI double in the third, while sophomore first baseman Jeff Altieri (Whitinsville, Mass.) had a two-run triple in the fourth.
The Minutemen scored their final run in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by sophomore designated hitter Tim Klett (Chicopee, Mass.), while the Musketeers added single runs in the sixth and eighth.
Junior righthanded pitcher Jesse Santos (Chelmsford, Mass.) earned the victory to improve to 7-4 on the season, allowing only one earned run in 7-1/3 innings of work. Junior righthanded pitcher Brian Hourigan (Beacon Falls, Conn.) came out of the bullpen to finish the game with 1-2/3 scoreless innings. Righthander Matt Raih took the loss for Xavier to fall to 3-10, allowing seven runs on nine hits in six innings.
Klett and Clark led the UMass offense with three hits each in the game, while outfielder Lucas Dines had three hits for Xavier.
The Minutemen return to action on Thursday, May 17, when they face No. 4 seed George Washington at 4:00 p.m. in the opening round of the Verizon Atlantic 10 Championship, to be held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. No. 2 seed Dayton will take on No. 3 seed Temple in the second game of the double-elimination tournament at 7:30 p.m.
UMass 8, Xavier 3 UMass (26-17, 16-6 A-10) 031 300 010 -- 8 12 2 Xavier (21-34, 8-14 A-10) 100 001 010 -- 3 9 2 UM: Jesse Santos, Brian Hourigan (8) and Tom Ellerbrook. XU: Matt Raih, Jared Cutter (7) and Ed Bongard. 2B: Jeff Altieri (UM), Gavin Clark (UM), Adam Stojanowski (UM), Jeff Crandell (XU). 3B: Jeff Altieri (UM). Win: Santos (7-4), Loss: Raih (3-10).
