University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Charlotte
Baseball defeated at Charlotte, 6-1
March 31, 2007 | Baseball
March 31, 2007
CHARLOTTE, NC - The Charlotte 49ers (21-5, 4-1), behind their second straight complete game effort out of a starting pitcher, defeated the University of Massachusetts (4-10, 2-3) by a score of 6-1 on Saturday afternoon. Spencer Steedley (4-0) was the workhorse for the 49ers, allowing only three hits and one earned run while striking out eight. Freshman Jared Freni (Malden, Mass.) took the loss for the Minutemen dropping his record to 1-2. He pitched four innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits and striking out two.
Charlotte jumped to an early lead in the first inning again on this afternoon. Following a one-out walk to Aaron Bray, Brad McElroy singled through the right side. A throwing error in the outfield would lead to Bray scoring from first on the play while McElroy advanced to third. 49er Chris Taylor then doubled down the left field line to plate McElroy. Freni was able to strike out Spencer Steedley to end the inning and keep the damage to just two runs.
No runs would be scored by either side until the bottom of the fifth. That's when a Chris Lane single, followed up by back-to-back triples by Cory Lane and Aaron Bray and a wild pitch, led to three more Charlotte runs scoring and making it a 5-0 ballgame.
UMass scored its lone run in the sixth when Freshman Brian Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) led the inning off with a double to right center. He then advanced to third on a Lou Proietti (Hamilton, Ont.) ground out. Sophomore Adam Tempesta (Brockton, Mass.) then drove in Baudinet with a ground out to third base.
Charlotte added another run in the seventh to close out the scoring. Kris Rochelle was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a ground out, and scored on a Chris Taylor double to make it 6-1.
Besides Baudinet's double, the other UMass hits were a single by Jim Macdonald (Cheshire, Conn.) in the second inning and a double by Tempesta in the fourth.
Junior Aaron Smith (Westfield, Mass.) pitched four effective innings of relief for the Minutemen. He allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out two.
The teams close out their three-game series on Sunday afternoon with first-pitch slated for noon. You can follow the action via Gametracker at umassathletics.com.
