University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
South Florida
Minutemen Fall To Bulls 11-4 In Series Finale
March 12, 2006 | Baseball
March 12, 2006
TAMPA, Fla. -
The UMass (1-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10) bats came alive in the second inning, scoring four runs on four hits, but were quiet the rest of the way as the Minutemen dropped an 11-4 contest to the University of South Florida (7-10, 0-0 Big East). The Bulls offense was in full throttle Sunday afternoon producing 11 runs on 18 hits, including a five run third inning. Eight USF starters had hits, including six players with a multiple hit game. Leading the charge was Brandin Daniel who was 3-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Ryan Franczek (Chicopee, Mass.) paced the Minutemen, extending his hitting streak to 11 games as he was 1-4 with a RBI.
After USF pushed a run across the board in the bottom half of the first, the Minutemen offense struck back with a vengeance in the top half of the second. Freshman Adam Tempesta (Brockton, Mass.) doubled down the left field line to start the inning and scored on freshman Joe Cotone's (Yorktown, N.Y.) double, as the Minutemen tied the score at 1-1. After a walk to freshman Jim MacDonald (Cheshire, Conn.), junior Frank McPherson (Somerville, Mass.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Cotone to third and MacDonald to second. Senior Derrick Durepo (Ware, Mass.) followed up with a RBI infield single, which advanced MacDonald to third and scored Cotone making it 2-1. Bulls' starter Davis Bilardello got junior Bill Rankin (Willington, Conn.) to pop out in the next at bat. With Durepo on first and MacDonald on third, the Minutemen attempted a successful double steal as Durepo swiped second base and MacDonald took home to extend the lead to 3-1. Junior Bryan Adamski (South Deerfield, Mass.) then drove in Durepo from second with a RBI single as the Minutemen left the top of the second with a 4-1 lead.
The Bulls responded in the bottom half of the third with a big inning of their own. Ty Taborelli doubled to begin the inning and advanced to third on a single by Addison Maruszak. Left fielder Josh LeRoy singled to center, knocking in Taborelli and advancing Maruszak to second to make it 4-2. The Bulls collected their fourth straight hit off of Minutemen starter senior David Sullivan (Winchester, Mass.) as Brian Baisley stroked a single to center, sending Maruszak to third and advancing LeRoy to second. Joey Angelberger then hit a RBI sac fly to score Maruszak from third to cut the UMass lead to 4-3.
In the following at bat, USF tried a successful double steal of it's own as LeRoy took third and Baisley moved to second to put two men in scoring position. Dexter Butler then hit the ball to Lou Proietti (Hamilton, Ont.) who tried to gun LeRoy at the plate, but the throw was errant, and the game was tied 4-4. Sullivan got Gus Fernandez to pop up for the second out of the inning, but the next batter, Brandin Daniel, singled to left center scoring Butler and Baisley to give the Bulls 6-4 lead.
The Minutemen were unable to respond as Bilardello found his groove and did not allow a hit after the second inning, retiring 13 straight batters before exiting the game. Bilardello tossed six strong innings, giving up four runs on four hits, while striking out three to improve to 1-1. The Bulls' bullpen shut the door as Jim Cassidy and Chase Lirette combined for three shutout innings of relief, allowing just one walk and one hit.
USF tacked on three insurance runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh for the final of 11-4. Sullivan took the loss as he pitched five innings, surrendering 13 hits and seven runs, four of them earned, with one strikeout to fall to 0-1. Mike Dicato (Winthrop, Mass.) made his collegiate debut in the eighth and pitched a perfect inning.
The Minutemen return to action on Wednesday, March 15 as they travel to Boston to take on the Huskies of Northeastern. The game will be broadcast on the NU student radio station WRBB 104.9 FM. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
