University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Northwestern
Minutemen Notch First Victory Of The Season
March 18, 2007 | Baseball
March 18, 2007
BRADENTON, Fla. - Behind the strength of the team's bats, the UMass Minutemen (1-4) picked up their first win of the season today against the Northwestern Wildcats ( 2-9), 10-7. Senior shortstop Lou Proietti (Hamilton, Ont.) lead the barrage of hits notching four in five at bats. Junior outfielder Jim Macdonald (Cheshire, Conn.) and junior catcher Bryan Garrity (Peabody, Mass.) each collected two hits for the Minutemen. Sophomore pitcher Tim Comiskey (Great River, N.Y.) recorded his first win of the season, pitching three innings of one-hit ball in relief of starter Chris Lloyd (North Adams, Mass.).
The Minutemen found themselves in a hole after the top of the first as Lloyd yielded two runs to the Wildcats. Northwestern's leadoff hitter Aaron Newman, who reached on a single to left center, made his way to third after stealing second base and then being advanced on groundout by Jake Owens. Newman was driven home by first baseman Jake Goebbert. Northwestern would tack on a second run when Antonio Mule crossed home plate on a Max Mann single to left.
Behind two runs, UMass answered in the bottom half of the inning with four runs of their own. With one out, Adam Tempesta (Brockton, Mass.) singled to left field and was advanced to second on a Bryan Adamski (South Deerfield, Mass.) single to left. With one out and two runners on, Garrity hit the third straight single of the inning, this time to right field. Tempesta scored on the play and Adamski hustled into third base. After a Bill Rankin (Willington, Conn.) made the second out of the inning on a pop-up to first base, MacDonald stepped into the batter's box and slammed a three run home run to give the Minutemen a 4-2 lead.
Following the rough first inning, Lloyd settled into a groove, pitching four consecutive scoreless innings. However, he ran into trouble in the top of the sixth. Lloyd issued a free pass to the lead off hitter Goebbert, who would score on double to left field on the very next play. The following batter, Kenneth Avila, laid down a perfect bunt and reached first base safely for a single, while Mann, the runner on second, advanced to third. Comiskey then came in the game to relieve Lloyd, who was unable to record an out in the inning. The first batter Comiskey faced hit a sacrifice fly to center field, deep enough for Mann to tag up from third and score the game-tying run. After recording the second out and then hitting Newman with a pitch, Comiskey allowed a single up the middle, which scored the go-ahead run. Comiskey would then proceeded to load the bases before he was able to record the third out of the inning.
The Minutemen regained the lead for good in the bottom of the 7th. With one out, Rankin was plunked by an offering from Northwestern's Bo Schultz. Following Rankin, MacDonald forced a base on balls. With runners on first and second, junior outfielder Jim Cassidy (Medway, Mass.) beat out an infield single to third base to load the bases with for the Minutemen. Junior Ryan Franczek (Chicopee, Mass.) came in to pinch hit for the next batter, Brian Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.), and hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Rankin from third and MacDonald from second. Cassidy, who advanced to second on the Franzcek sacrifice fly, then stole third base and scored on a throwing error by Northwestern catcher Chad Noble to give the Minutemen a 7-4 edge.
The Minutemen offense kept churning, pushing three more runs across in the bottom of the 8th. The lead off batter, Proietti, reached first base on a bunt and advanced to second when Tempesta laid down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. Back-to-back walks to Adamski and Garrity gave the Minutemen a perfect scoring opportunity with the bases loaded and one out. Rankin then pulled a ball down the right field line for a two RBI. Then pinch hitter Andy Tuetken (Smithfield, R.I.) kept the rally going when he scored Garrity on a ground out to third base. The run capped off UMass' scoring for the day, giving the team a 10-5 lead.
In to close out the game in the ninth, Adamski was touched up for two more runs, but was able to ultimately hold off the Wildcat rally to secure UMass' first victory of the season.
Lloyd was charged with seven hits, five runs, and five earned while walking four and striking out four. Comiskey was not charged with any of the three runs Northwestern scored in the top of the sixth when he came in for Lloyd.
UMass will take the field again tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Fans can follow the game via the live stats link on UMassAthletics.com.
