University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Richmond
Minutemen Triumph Over Spiders 11-9 In 10 Innings
April 01, 2006 | Baseball
April 1, 2006
RICHMOND, Va. -
The Minutemen (3-12, 1-4 Atlantic 10) pushed across two runs in the top half of the tenth inning to defeat the Spiders of Richmond (8-16, 2-3 A-10). The win is the first for UMass in its last seven games and marks the first win of the A-10 campaign. The Minutemen offense has scored a combined 22 runs and 24 hits over the last two games against Spider pitching. Ryan Franczek (Chicopee, Mass.) lead the way as he was 2-4 with a grand slam, four RBI, two walks and two runs scored. Bryan Adamski (South Deerfield, Mass.) made an impact both at the plate and on the hill as he was 2-6 on the day with a runs scored and two RBI and pitched the eighth, ninth, and tenth innings to pick up the victory to improve to 1-1.
The Minutemen pounced all over Spider starter Ian Marshall in the top half of the first, scoring eight runs on five hits against the freshman starter. UMass jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a two RBI single by Adamski, a RBI single by freshman Joe Cotone (Yorktown, N.Y.), and senior Derrick Durepo (Ware, Mass.) had RBI hit by pitch. However, Franczek put the exclamation point on the inning blasting a two out grand slam to left center field making it 8-0. Franczek had two hits on the inning, as did freshman Adam Tempesta who doubled twice in the inning. Marshall lasted just 2/3rds of an inning before being lifted in favor of Ja Jones.
Richmond started clawing its back into the game, scoring six runs over the next two innings. After touching up UMass junior starter Rory McDonald (East Longmeadow, Mass.) for two runs in the bottom of the first, the Spiders added four more in the second. Right fielder Matt McKenna led off with a home run to right making it an 8-3 game. The Spiders got three more runs on back-to-back RBI singles by Vince Riggi and Joe Mahoney and a sacrifice fly by first basemen Cameron Brown.
The UMass offense was unable to push across another run until the top half of the seventh when DH Jim Macdonald (Cheshire, Conn.) reached on an error and came in to score on a Durepo RBI double. After the first inning, the Minutemen put 15 men on base in innings two through nine, but only Macdonald was able to come in to score. The Spider relief tandem of Jones, Wyatt Stewart and Kyle Damn were able to strand the majority of Minutemen runners in their combined 7 2/3 innings of relief.
Trailing 9-6 in the bottom of the seventh, the Spiders began to close the gap scoring runs in their half of the seventh, eighth and ninth to tie the game at 9-9 sending it into extra innings. UMass responded with a sense of urgency in the top half of the tenth as five consecutive Minutemen reached base safely. UMass capitalized on a throwing error that allowed junior Lou Proietti (Hamilton, Ont.) to come in to score to give the Minutemen the lead at 10-9. Proietti was 2-4 on the day with two runs scored. Cotone then laid a sacrifice bunt down the third base line off of Richmond reliever Brian Alas (0-2) bringing home Adamski with the insurance run to make it 11-9. Adamski then came out and pitched a hitless bottom of the tenth to give the Minutemen the victory.
UMass will try to make it two in a row tomorrow as they complete the three game series against Richmond. Senior right hander David Sullivan (Winchester, Mass.) will get the start for the Minutemen. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 noon and fans can follow tomorrow's action via Gametracker. Be sure to check back to www.umassathletics.com for a complete recap and stats following tomorrow's game.
