University of Massachusets Athletics
Baseball Travels To George Washington For Weekend Series
April 03, 2008 | Baseball
April 3, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass baseball (6-10, 1-5 A-10) takes to the road this weekend, going to George Washington (14-11, 4-2 A-10) to take on the Colonials in a three-game Atlantic 10 series at Barcroft Park in Alexandria, Virginia. The series opens on Friday with a 3 p.m. game, continues on Saturday with a noon game, and concludes on Sunday at noon. Live stats of all three games will be available on Gametracker at UMassAthletics.com.
Last Game
The Minutemen are going off an impressive 16-9 victory over Holy Cross at home on Tuesday. The Crusaders jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but UMass came back to score a season-high 16 runs on a tied-for-season-high 16 hits. Brian Baudinet, Mike Donato, and Adam Tempesta all homered in the game, with Baudinet hitting two bombs. The biggest blow was Donato's grand slam that highlighted a seven-run fourth inning. Garrett Butt earned the victory in relief, the first of the freshman's career. Aaron Smith came in to throw 3 1/3 shutout innings to close the game for his first save of the season.
In Last Week's Action
After going 2-8 on a season-opening 10-game roadtrip, the Minutemen went 4-2 on a six-game homestand.
The Minutemen had a busy week last week, playing six games. They opened the week on Monday with a tough 4-2 loss at UConn. On Tuesday, UMass opened up Earl Lorden Field for the season by routing Sacred Heart, 15-3. That win was followed up by victories over Hartford (7-5) and Xavier (7-1), both at home, before dropping the final two games of the series to the Musketeers, 10-5 and 3-2.
Brian's Bashing
Baudinet has gotten off to a hot start hitting in the leadoff spot. The sophomore center fielder leads the team with a .382 average, a .493 on-base percentage, and four home runs. His 15 RBI are second on the team to Tempesta's 16, and he is tied for the club lead in stolen bases with Ryan Franczek (6).
Tough At The Bottom
Mike Stone's club has been getting outstanding performance from the bottom of the order. Andy Tuetken (.340 AVG) and Kyle Multner (.382 AVG), the eighth and ninth hitters, rank fourth and second on the team in batting and have combined to score 21 runs and drive in 16. Multner's .673 slugging percentage is tops on the club.
What A Relief
Despite the team allowing nine runs to Holy Cross on Tuesday, the bullpen was effective, not allowing the Crusaders to score from the fifth inning on. Holding on to leads has been the trend this season, as the Minutemen are 5-0 when leading after six innings.
Getting Offensive
The UMass bats have come alive as of late. The Minutemen have raised their team batting average to .283 entering the weekend. They are scoring 5.9 runs per game overall, and an even more impressive 8.7 runs in their last six games. UMass finished the 2007 season with a .259 team average and scored 5.0 runs per game.
Tempesta led the club with a .306 batting average last season. In the early going this year, five everyday players, including Tempesta, are hitting above that mark.
Scouting George Washington
George Washington comes into the weekend winners of five of its last seven games, averaging almost nine runs per game in that span. It opened A-10 play by taking two of three from Saint Joseph's and again took two out of three games at Richmond last weekend.
The Colonials' offense is led by junior first baseman Tim Reeves. He is hitting .405 and has driven in 19 runs. Senior Charlie Kruer is the top run producer, belting 15 doubles, four home runs, and totaling 32 RBI to go along with a .378 average.
Junior right-hander Pat Lehman is 4-0 on the mound this season with a 4.54 ERA. Freshman righty Eric Cantrell posts a 4.05 ERA with a 3-2 record and has fanned 35 batters in 33 1/3 innings. Jimmy Duggan has four saves in 10 relief appearances, with 18 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched.
Series History
UMass holds a 15-13 edge in the series, which dates back to 1970. Last season, the Colonials took two out of three from the Minutemen in Amherst. GW won game-one, 9-4, behind seven strong innings from starter Pat Lehman. In game-two, UMass came back from a 4-1 deficit, scoring one run in the seventh inning and three in the eighth, to pull off a 5-4 victory. Jim Cassidy went eight innings for the Minutemen, allowing only one earned run off five hits. In game-three, GW scored four runs in the fifth inning to erase a 1-0 UMass lead and went on to win 6-4.
Tempesta hit .500 in the series, going 6-12 off Colonials pitching.
Up Next
The Minutemen return home on Tuesday, Apr. 8 when they host UConn in a 3 p.m. game at Earl Lorden Field.
