University of Massachusets Athletics
Baseball Heads South For Maryland-Virginia Spring Break Swing
March 13, 2009 | Baseball
March 13, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. - Before beginning Atlantic 10 play next weekend, the UMass baseball team will kick off its Spring Break trip to the Maryland-Virginia area this Saturday, Mar. 14, when the Minutemen (3-3) will take on Monmouth and Navy in Annapolis, Md., at Navy's Max Bishop Stadium. After playing another against Monmouth on Sunday, UMass will continue its five-straight days of games with trips to George Mason, Longwood and Virginia Commonwealth, on Monday through Wednesday. Gametracker/live stats will be available for all six contests.
Schedule And Weekend Pitching Matchups
• Saturday (3/14) vs. Monmouth (Annapolis, Md.) - 11 a.m. - Gametracker
RHP Jared Freni (0-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Buch
• Saturday (3/14) at Navy (Annapolis, Md.) - 2:15 p.m. - Gametracker
LHP Mitchell Clegg (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. RHP Wes Olson
• Sunday (3/15) vs. Monmouth (Annapolis, Md.) - 11 a.m. - Gametracker
RHP Mike DiCato (1-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. LHP Nick Vallillo
• Monday (3/16) at George Mason (Fairfax, Va.) - 2:30 p.m. - Gametracker
• Tuesday (3/17) at Longwood (Farmville, Va.) - 4 p.m. - Live Stats
• Wednesday (3/18) at Virginia Commonwealth (Richmond, Va.) - 6 p.m. - Live Stats
Minutemen Post Big Win Out West
• The Minutemen never put down their bats as they scored in five of the nine innings to squeeze past the Arizona Wildcats on Mar. 7, marking the first time UMass has taken down a Pac-10 opponent since 1982 when they defeated UCLA, 11-7.
• Mitchell Clegg (1-0) got the nod and the win for the Minutemen as he struck out nine in his seven innings pitched, scattering five hits.
• Junior Mike Gedman earned his first save of the season after throwing for just 1/3 inning.
• In the top of the ninth, junior Mike Donato posted what would be the winning run for the UMass after launching the ball over the left field wall for his first homerun of the season.
Starting Off On a Good Note
• Sam Boone hit his first career home run on Feb. 27 in a 4-3 triumph over Northwestern, helping propel the Minutemen to their first victory in a season opener since 2004. Junior Mike Gedman hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning of a 3-3 game to bring in Mike Donato for what would be the winning run. Senior Mitchell Eilenberg earned the win on the mound, pitching 2.2 innings of relief.
• UMass' 9-8 victory over Arizona on Mar. 7 brought the squad's record to 3-2, marking the best five-game start for the Minutemen since 2002 (3-2).
An Offensive Explosion
• UMass posted 25-4 triumph over Fairfield on Mar. 1, marking the most runs the squad has scored since the school record was set with 32 runs against another team from the Nutmeg State, Central Connecticut on April 20, 1993.
• Against the Stags, the Minutemen pounded out 20 hits, including five doubles, two homeruns and a school-record four triples. The previous mark was three, set many times.
• Sophomore Peter Copa paced the squad with a career-best six RBI and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. Senior Adam Tempesta and junior Brian Baudinet had four RBI apiece.
Hitting Streaks
• Two Minutemen enter the team's Spring Break trip with six-game hitting streaks on the line: senior Adam Tempesta and junior Mike Donato have hit safely in every game thus far.
• Junior Austin Weymouth had a five-game hitting streak to start the season before having it snapped last Sunday at Arizona.
• Dating back to the end of last season, Tempesta has now tallied hits in 10 straight contests after ending 2008 on a four-game hitting streak. The senior's career-high was an 11-game hitting streak as sophomore in 2007. Dating back to May 10, 2008, Tempesta has recorded at least one hit in 12 of the last 13 games he's played.
• Donato has matched his career-best hitting streak, previously with six-game streaks in both 2007 and 2008.
Team Triples
• UMass has four triples on the season is six games, just one shy of the team total from last year. The Minutemen registered five three-baggers in 45 games in 2008.
Donato Breaking Out Offensively As A junior
• Mike Donato is off hot start to his junior campaign, hitting a team-best .480 (12-for-25) though six games, leads the squad in doubles with four and is tied fot the team lead in runs scored with six. He has five RBI to his credit and boasts a .840 slugging percentage.
• Donato is halfway to his career season highs for runs scored (12, 2007) and doubles (8, 2008) and is nearly halfway to his career best in hits (31, 2008). As a sophomore, Donato played in 35 games, starting 34.
Rookie Gets The Nod Behind The Plate
• In a lineup laden with upperclassmen, freshman Tom Conley has started behind the plate in each of the Minutemen's first six contests.
• The Boston College H.S. grad is currently hitting .316 with four RBI and a run scored. Conley's first career RBI came against Fairfield (3/1).
• Last weekend he posted a pair of doubles in UMass' win over Arizona (3/7) and finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate with three-RBI.
Weymouth's Homecoming
• After just one week in a Minuteman uniform, junior Austin Weymouth is making a return to his home state this weekend against Arizona.
• Weymouth, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., transferred to UMass from Scottsdale Community College where he helped the team advance to the Division II JuCo World Series in 2007.
• So far at UMass, Weymouth has started all three games and is hitting .346 (9-for-26) with five RBI and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with six.
Stone's 600th
• With three wins on the season, UMass head coach Mike Stone is now just nine wins away from his 600th overall as a head coach. Stone currently holds a 591-534-4 mark in 26+ seasons. He is 537-444-2 as the frontman for the Minutemen (21+ seasons).
Series History
• UMass has only played one game versus all of its first five Spring Break opponents combined. The one contest, a 5-4 loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Mar. 18, 1979.
• The Minutemen are 32-13 all-time against teams currently in the Northeast Conference, 48-30-1 against current Patriot League members and 41-54 against schools from the CAA.
Next Up
• UMass will close out its weeklong trek through Maryland and Virginia with its conference-opening series, a three-game set at Richmond on Mar. 20-22, beginning with a 3 p.m. contest against the Spiders on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.
• Richmond holds a 13-6 advantage in the all-time series with the Minutemen and took the series, 2-1, in Amherst last time the teams met in May of 2007.
• The Spiders were selected fourth in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll. UMass was picked to finish 11th.