University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Hosts Xavier This Weekend In A-10 Series
March 27, 2008 | Baseball
March 27, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass baseball team (4-8, 0-3 A-10), coming off two-straight wins earlier this week, will host Xavier (6-12, 2-1 A-10) in a three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series this weekend at Earl Lorden Field. Gametimes are slated for 3 p.m. on Friday, 1 p.m. on Saturday, and noon on Sunday. After opening the season on a 10-game roadtrip, the Minutemen got off to a perfect start at home this week, routing Sacred Heart, 15-3, in the home-opener on Tuesday, and then defeating Hartford, 7-5, on Wednesday. Live audio of all three games will be available on the UMass Sports Network and live stats will be on Gametracker. Both can be found at UMassAthletics.com.
UMass went 2-8 on its season-opening road-swing. The Minutemen opened the season with three losses at #1 Arizona State, despite jumping out to early leads in two of the three games. They followed that up by taking two of three games versus Army at the Yankees spring training complex in Tampa before dropping three games at Duquesne and one at Connecticut.
UMass' Last Two At Home
Opening day in Amherst came on Tuesday, with UMass opening Earl Lorden Field in style, with a 15-3 romp over Sacred Heart. Brian Baudinet and Mike Donato each homered as the Minutemen pounded out 17 hits. Nick Serino pitched five solid innings, allowing just one run, to earn the victory.
UMass came right back on Wednesday with a 7-5 win over visiting Hartford. The Minutemen raced out to an early 4-1 lead, aided by Kyle Multner's second home run of the season. The Hawks came back to tie it in the sixth on a three-run home run, but UMass was able to push runs across in the sixth, seventh, and eight innings to take control of the game. Ryan Franczek was 2-4, scored twice, and had three of the Minutemen's season-high seven stolen bases.
UMass Report
Andy Tuetken is the Minutemen's top hitter thus far with a .414 (12-29) average. Kyle Multner (.350), Adam Tempesta (.317), and Jim Macdonald (.302) are all hitting over .300 as well. Tempesta and leadoff man Brian Baudinet are tied for the club lead with 11 RBI apiece.
On the mound, newcomers Mitchell Clegg (2.60 ERA) and Bryan Leigh (3.66 ERA) have been strong, holding opposing hitters to batting averages of .188 and .243 respectively. Two more newcomers, Benson (0.00 ERA in 2.1 IP) and Nathan Monroy (3.24 ERA in 8.1 IP), have been the top arms out of the bullpen thus far.
Scouting Xavier
The Musketeers enter the weekend losers of their last two, falling at Kentucky (5-2) and at Indiana (10-4). Those followed a conference-opening series at Dayton that saw Xavier take two out of three games.
Sophomore Zac Richard has been the top Musketeer hitter, leading the club in average (.371), home runs (4), and RBI (21). Drew Schmidt has 17 hits and 11 walks to post an on-base percentage of .444 and has scored 11 runs. Danny Rosenbaum has started five games on the mound, posting a 1-2 record with a 4.71 ERA and has fanned 23 batters. Reliever Jordan Conley has yet to allow a run in six appearances out of the bullpen, striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings of work.
Series History
Friday's game will be the 17th meeting between UMass and Xavier in a series that dates back to 1996. The team's met last season in the final weekend of the regular season in Cincinnati, with the Musketeers taking two out three. The series opened with Xavier taking a 4-3 win in 10 innings. UMass took game two, 6-3, with Adam Tempesta, Bryan Adamski, and Travis Munsey all homering. The series finale, which also served as the season finale, saw Drew Roberts hit a walk-off three-run home run to give the Musketeers a 6-5 victory.
