March 24, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. -
UMass baseball will host Sacred Heart on Tuesday when the Minutemen open up the 2008 season at home. Game time is slated for 3 p.m. at Earl Lorden Field. The Minutemen will also hit the road for two games this week. On Monday, the Minutemen will travel to Storrs, Connecticut to face the Huskies. On Wednesday, the Minutemen will travel back to Connecticut to face the Hartford Hawks. Both road games are scheduled for 3 pm.
Scouting UMass
UMass (2-7, 0-3 A-10) is coming off a series loss to Duquesne. The Minutemen were swept by Dusquene this past weekend.
Adam Tempesta is leading the Minutemen with a .344 batting average. Tempesta also leads the team with 11 hits on the season and has six runs.
Brian Baudinet is hitting .308 on the season with four runs on eight hits. Baudinet is one of two Minutemen to hit a homerun this season and leads the team with seven RBIs.
Bryan Leigh and Mitchell Eilenberg have both gone 1-1 so far on the season. Leigh is posting a 3.66 ERA (8 ER / 19.2 IP), while Eilenberg has an 8.00 ERA (8 ER / 9.0 IP). Eilenberg has made the most appearances for UMass with five on the season.
Scouting UConn (7-10, 2-3 Big East)
UConn is coming off a three game series against No. 28 Louisville where the Huskies went 1-2.
Mike Nemeth currently leads the Huskies with a .340 batting average. Nemeth has played in 14 games and has knocked in eight runs on the season.
Pete Fatse leads the team with 19 RBIs. Fatse also had three homeruns on the season and a .323 batting average.
Dan Mahoney and Elliot Glynn have been on the mound the most for the Huskies with both having pitched in 20 innings this season. Mahoney is 0-1 on the season with a 5.85 ERA (13 ER / 20.0 IP), while Glynn is 1-1 on the season with a 6.30 ERA (14 ER / 20.0 IP).
Overall, the pitching for UConn has posted a 7-10 record on the season with a 5.29 ERA (86 ER / 146.1 IP).
Series History
UConn leads the all-time series against UMass with a record of 71-75-3. The first time UMass faced UConn was in 1900.
UMass faced UConn last year where the Huskies from behind to defeat the Minutemen 8-5. A two-run homer by UConn's Dennis Donovan in the seventh and a three-run shot by Matt Karl in the ninth were the decisive blows in what was a back and forth game. Ryan Walczak took the loss, pitching 2 1/3 innings and giving up two runs.
Scouting Sacred Heart (1-16, 0-0 Northeast)
Sacred Heart's lone win of the season came against Fairfield when the Pioneers defeated the Stags 3-2.
Tyler Santos and Phil Tantillo have started in all 17 games this season. Santos is batting .218 on the season, while Tantillo is batting .262. Santos is tied with Paul Schmidt for the most RBIs on the team with seven.
The leading hitter for the Pioneers is Jeff Hanson. Hanson is posting a .333 batting average with nine runs on 14 hits.
Ryan Lynch has been on the mound the most for the Pioneers. Lynch has a 0-3 record on the season with a 5.66 ERA (13 ER / 20.2 IP).
Jared Balbachis the only pitcher on the team with a win. Balbach has a 1-4 record on the season with a 6.05 ERA (13 ER / 19.1 IP).
The pitching for Sacred Heart has posted a 1-16 record on the season with a 7.73 ERA (116 ER / 135.0 IP).
Series History
UMass leads the all-time series 5-1.
The last time the two teams met was back in 2006. The Pioneers defeated the Minutemen 6-1. Sacred Heart's Chris Howard shut down the Minutemen offense allowing one run on four hits while striking out five. The Pioneer offense was equally as potent, stroking 15 hits and drawing four walks on the day. Ryan Franczek drove in the lone run for the Minuteman, but was 0-4 overall.
Scouting Hartford (3-8, 0-0 Northeast)
Hartford is coming off a loss against Brown and a three game series against UNCA where the Hawks went 1-2.
The Hawks home opener will be against UMass.
Mike Amedola leads the Hawks with a .452 batting average. Amendola has started in all 11 games for Hartford and has 11 runs on 19 hits this season.
Drew Sgro leads the team in RBIs with 13 on the season. Sgro has also started in all 11 games on the season and is hitting .293 on the season.
Chris Greiner has a 4.38 ERA (6 ER / 12.1 IP) to post a 1-1 record in two appearances. Weston Szymanski has made the most appearances for Hawks with four on the season. Szymanski has a 8.80 ERA (15 ER / 15.1 IP) to go 0-2 on the season.
Overall, pitching for Hartford has posted a 10.25 ERA (104 ER / 91.1 IP).
Series History
UMass leads the all-time series 16-9.
The last time UMass faced Hartford was in 2003 where the Minutemen defeated the Hawks 9-2. UMass' Chris Morgan had a double, a home run, two RBI, two runs scored and two walks, to lead the University of Massachusetts baseball team to victory over Hartford. 
