University of Massachusets Athletics
Baseball To Play At Hartford On Wednesday
March 24, 2009 | Baseball
March 24, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. - Coming off a 24-run performance at Richmond on Sunday, the UMass baseball team will look to keep the offense rolling, as the squad will visit Hartford on Wednesday, Mar. 25, at 3 p.m. The Minutemen lead the series with the Hawks, 17-9, picking up a 7-5 win in Amherst last season. Sophomore right-hander Garrett Butt (0-0, 9.00 ERA) will take the mound for UMass, opposing Hartford's right-hander Bob Rogers (0-0, 2.79 ERA).
Smashing the Spiders
• UMass raced out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back, posting a 24-9 victory over Richmond at Pitt Field on Mar. 22. It marked the most runs ever scored by the Minutemen against an A-10 opponent.
• The Minutemen pounded out 24 hits against the Spiders, two shy of the program's single game mark, including a school single game-record eight doubles.
• Eleven different players tallied hits for UMass, led by junior Mike Donato's career-best 5-for-7 performance as he contributed four RBI and scored two.
Tempesta Climbing The Charts
• Senior Adam Tempesta is currently hitting .377 with eight runs scored, five doubles, one triple, two homeruns and 14 RBI.
• He is tied for the team lead in RBI, doubles, multiple hit games and multiple RBI games.
• The second baseman entered the season 10th all-time in career doubles and has now moved up to sixth with 40, one shy of Brian Samela for fifth (41) and 10 away from the school record.
• He has also entered the program's top-10 lists for hits as he is currently ninth with 187. When Tempesta reaches his 200th hit, he will be just the third player in school history to reach the plateau.
• Tempesta has logged at least one base hit in 11 of 12 games that he has appeared in this season, going 0-for-1 in a pinch hit performance against Monmouth on Mar. 14.
• Dating back to the end of last season, Tempesta tallied in 10 straight contests after ending 2008 on a four-game hitting streak and opening this year hitting safely in six straight. 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 17 of the last 19 games he's played.
Hitting Streaks
• Entering Wednesday's game at Hartford, six Minutemen possess active hitting streaks of three games or more.
• Senior Jim Macdonald is currently riding a team-best six-game hitting streak. His longest of his career was 11 straight in 2007.
• Junior Austin Weymouth is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak, tying his best of the season as he began the year hitting safely in five straight games.
• Junior Mike Donato posted the longest hitting streak by any UMass player thus far this season with hits in seven consecutive games, a career-best. His previous bests were six-game streaks in both 2007 and 2008.
Serino Stifles VCU
• Sophomore Nick Serino fanned a career-high 11 batters over six scoreless innings, helping UMass to a 4-3 victory over Virginia Commonwealth at The Diamond on Mar. 18. 

• The Rams had won seven of their past nine games entering the contest.
• Serino earned the victory, scattering three hits and walking five. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. 

• His 11 strikeouts were the most by a Minuteman since Apr. 16, 2005, when Matt Torra fanned 16 batters in 10.2 innings against Saint Joseph's. 

• Serino's previous career high for strikeouts (7) came in a start at George Washington on Apr. 6, 2008. He worked 6.1 innings in that contest.
Gedman Saves
• Junior Mike Gedman has been the go-to guy out of the bullpen for the Minutemen and has two saves in four appearances, which came in big wins over Arizona (9-8) and VCU (4-3). 

• Gedman has faced 38 batters in 9.1 innings and has only given up one hit with four walks and 10 strikeouts. He holds a 0.96 ERA and opponents are batting just .034 against him.
Team Triples
• UMass has six triples in 14 games, already surpassing the team total from last year. The Minutemen registered five three-baggers in 45 games in 2008. 

• Six triples is the highest total by a UMass squad since the team belted eight in 2006.
Stone's 600th
• With five wins on the season, UMass head coach Mike Stone is now just seven victories away from his 600th overall as a head coach. Stone currently holds a 593-540-4 mark in 26+ seasons. He is 539-440-2 as the frontman for the Minutemen (21+ seasons).
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 had taken down a Pac-10 opponent since 1982 when the Minutemen defeated UCLA, 11-7. 

• Mitchell Clegg got the nod and the win for UMass as he struck out nine in his seven innings pitched, scattering five hits. 

• 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.
Next Up
• UMass will next travel to the Bronx, N.Y., to take on Fordham in a three-game Atlantic 10 series Mar. 27-29, beginning with a 3 p.m. contest on Friday afternoon.
• The Minutemen hold a 23-14 advantage in the all-time series with the Rams, however Fordham won last two meetings in Amherst, taking last year's series 2-1.