University of Massachusets Athletics
Baseball Set For Showdown With Richmond
April 01, 2004 | Baseball
April 1, 2004
AMHERST, Mass. -
UMass vs. Richmond Games Notes in PDF Format
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Game Day Quick Facts
The Teams: Massachusetts (7-7, 1-2 Atlantic 10) vs. Richmond (14-10, 3-0 Atlantic 10)
Date: Doubleheader on Saturday, April 3, 2004
Single game on Sunday, April 4
Time: 12:00 p.m. both days
Place: Earl Lorden Field (1,000) Amherst, Mass.
Radio: UMass Sports Online Radio Network (Bob Behler, play-by-play; Charles Bare, Adam Frenier and Matt Goldstein, color; www.umassathletics.com) Click Here
Minutemen Set For Home-Opener Against Richmond
WHAT'S ON TAP: The University of Massachusetts baseball team (7-7, 1-2 Atlantic 10) welcomes the University of Richmond (14-10, 3-0 Atlantic 10) this weekend for a pivotal three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series on Earl Lorden Field, the UMass home opener of the 2004 campaign. The Minutemen, who sport a blistering .307 team batting average, enter the game freshman off a 9-2 drubbing of Sacred Heart on Tuesday. The Richmond Spiders have lost eight of their last 12, including an 8-5 loss at the hand of Radford on Tuesday.
UMASS-RICHMOND SERIES AIRED ONLINE: Fans Can Listen To The Game Through www.umassathletics.com - This weekend's UMass baseball series with Richmond will be broadcast over the internet. The three game series includes a doubleheader,Saturday April 3, and a single game, Sunday April 4. Pre-game show for both days begins at 11:50 a.m. The broadcast team will include Bob Behler, Charles Bare, Adam Frenier, and Matt Goldstein. UMass Sports Radio will also broadcast two regular season softball games over the internet, April 13 against Connecticut and April 15 against Boston College. Broadcast time for both games is 3:50 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's game will be the 11th match up between UMass and Richmond on the baseball diamond with the Spiders holding a 7-3 advantage in an all-time series that began in 1970. The teams last met in the 2003 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament championship series with the Spiders taking the set and the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING THE SPIDERS: In its fourth season of Atlantic 10 Conference play, Richmond began the season on a tear holding an 11-3 record on Mar. 17. Since that time though, the Spiders seem to have been caught in some sort of a web spinning together six consecutive losses over the ensuing six games. A conference-opening sweep of Saint Joseph's last weekend put UR in first place of the Atlantic 10 West Division, but a loss (at home on Mar. 30) to Big South Conference member Radford (giving the Highlanders a 2-0 season sweep) makes Richmond an unsteady opponent. At the helm of the Spiders is his 20th season at the school is head coach is Ron Atkins. Posting over 600 career victories, the 1967 graduate of Virginia Tech has guided Richmond teams into the NCAA Tournament on eight occasions. Joining the Spiders in 1985 when the team was a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, Atkins began his coaching career at J.R. Tucker High School in Richmond, Va. The Spiders are led offensively, by senior shortstop Bobby LeNoir who enters the game with a team-leading .337 batting average and nine stolen bases. Senior firstbaseman Jim Fasano leads the team with nine homeruns, while junior righthander Jason Bolinski leads the squad with 37.0 innings pitched and a 3.16 ERA. Junior righthander Derek Duclos is tied for the team-lead with three wins and 36 strikeouts over 34.1 innings. Junior lefthander Thomas Martin rounds out the trio with a 5.40 ERA, but has allowed 16 earned runs and an opponents batting average of .283.
STONE GETS No. 500: With a season-opening win at Rider on Sunday, March 7, 2004, University of Massachusetts baseball head coach Mike Stone earned career win number 500. Already the all-time winningest coach in UMass Baseball history, Stone added another distinction to his resume this past winter as he became the all-time active wins leader among New England Division I baseball head coaches. He bagan the season with a 499-392-4 record including a 445-302-2 mark at the helm of the Minutemen.
TRIPLE DIME, ANYTIME: Wearing No. 30 out the hill, senior starting pitcher Eric Chown has been at the front end of a powerful Minuteman pitching staff for the past couple of seasons. Already having logged a team-high 27.1 innings this year, including a complete game 10 inning victory over Iowa on Mar. 17, the righthander was a workhorse last season totaling a team-high 72.0 innings pitched including six complete games. As a sophomore in 2002 he ranked second on the squad with 68.2 innings to his credit. Beginning the year with more than 180 collegiate innings under his belt, the Durfee High School product could end his UMass career among the top five Minutemen pitchers in innings pitched all-time (he began the year seventh on the all-time list for pitching appearances with 47). Drafted by the Atlanta Braves following the 2003 campaign (38th round, 1147 overall), Chown opted to return to Amherst for his senior season. A second-team All-Atlantic 10 selection in 2003, he was also a member of the All-Tournament squad.
TORA, TORA, TORA: Sophomore Matt Torra has continued to mow down opposing hitters this season totaling 34 strikeouts in just 24.1 innings this season. A native of Pittsfield, Mass., the second-year standout has shown no signs of a sophomore slump this year. In a 2-1 victory at George Washington on Mar. 27, Torra scattered eight hits over 6.1 innings to earn his team-leading third win of the season. He allowed one run, one walk and totaled nine strikeouts. For the season, Torra holds a 3-1 record with a 3.33 ERA, has fanned 34 batters in only 24.1 innings pitched, and allowed just six extra base hits. In his first start of the season on Mar. 7 at Rider, the righthander fanned a career-high 12 batters.
REYNOLDS WRAP: Senior captain Matt Reynolds (South Boston, Mass.) has appeared in every game for the Minutemen this year, toting a team-leading three homeruns, 16 RBI and a .304 batting average and 16. This season he has made a smooth transition across the diamond to first base. Having played in 27 games at the hot corner in 2003, the transfer from Maine has been almost flawless making just one error over the first 14 games of the season.
DIRECT FROM THE NEEDHAM LINE: Senior Adam Stojanowski (West Roxbury, Mass.) currently leads the team with a 10-game hitting streak having recorded a hit in every game he has played. Holding a team-leading .395 batting average as well, the versatile infielder is arguably one of the best defensive infielders in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
RAGIN' CAJUN: While it could not be compared to the first win of former major leaguer Bobo Holloman, it was good enough to earn him his first official victory in a Minuteman uniform. Righthanded starter Devin Barnett (New Orleans, La.) hurled seven solid innings allowing just six hits and two runs while striking out five at Sacred Heart on March 30. The Bayou state native picked up his first collegiate victory and stranded eight Pioneers on the base paths. Holloman holds the distinction (along with Charlie Jones and Ted Breitenstein) of tossing a no-hitter in his first major league start. A member of the defunct Saint Louis Browns (who became the Baltimore Orioles following the 1953 campaign), Holloman flamed out by the end of 1953 having never pitched another complete game in his major league career.
UCONN GAME RESCHEDULED: The UMass vs. UConn baseball game in Storrs, Conn., postponed from March 23rd has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 14 at 3:00 p.m. The teams will now square off in back-to-back days as the Minutemen will open the home-and-home series at Lorden Field on April 13th at 3:00 p.m. SAVE THE DATE: Prior to the last scheduled Atlantic 10 Conference series against the Temple Owls on Saturday, May 8, the University of Massachusetts Department of Athletics will recognize the 1954 UMass Baseball team, celebrating the 50th anniversary of UMass' first appearance in the College World Series. Under the direction of legendary head coach Earl Lorden, the team went 15-7 that season and won the New England Championship. Advancing to Omaha, Neb., the team won one game before bowing to eventual national champion Missouri, 8-1, on June 12, 1954. In an effort to get as many members of that team reunited on May 8, 2004, anyone who has any contact info regarding members of the squad is asked to contact Tamra Geryk in Athletic Marketing at (413) 545-9596. Be sure to come out for what should certainly be a memorable day in UMass Baseball history.
PRESEASON POLL: In the annual Atlantic 10 preseason coaches poll, UMass was picked to finished first in the Atlantic 10 East Division. Coming off a 26-19 (14-7) record, the 2003 Minutemen advanced to the conference tournament title game before bowing to NCAA Tournament participant, 18th-ranked Richmond.
THE CAPTAINS: Senior second baseman Sean Sarno (Stoneham, Mass.), senior shortstop Mike Athas (Holyoke, Mass.) and senior first baseman Matt Reynolds will serve as the captains for the 2004 Minutemen.
NOTABLE NOTABLES: As has been the norm for UMass Baseball over the years, the Minutemen get on the scoreboard in the first inning, 17 of of UMass' 92 runs (18.5 percent) have scored in the first frame ... At the other end, the next two highest run-producing innings for UMass, are the eighth and ninth where the Maroon & White have crossed the plate 14 and 11 times respectively ... Junior outfielder Curt Szado (Monson, Mass.) leads the team lead with six multi-hit games, while Mike Athas, sophomore catcher Frank Curreri (Weymouth, Mass,) and Matt Reynolds each have totaled five multi-hit contests ... Curreri also leads the squad with five multi-RBI games ... Sarno is a perfect 19-for-19 on the basepaths during his collegiate career, having started the year 18-for-18, he has added a 1-for-1 figure to that total in 2004.
