University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Duquesne
UMass Clinches A-10 Tournament Berth
May 15, 2009 | Baseball
May 15, 2009
Game One: Box Score | PDF Box Score
Game Two: Box Score | PDF Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass baseball team took both games of a doubleheader against Duquesne (14-40, 7-18) on Friday afternoon at Earl Lorden Field to secure a berth into the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Dayton, Ohio, next week, its first trip to the conference postseason tournament since 2003. Pounding out 25 runs on 30 hits, including seven homers, the Minutemen won game one, 14-5, followed by an 11-2 game two triumph. With the victories, UMass is now 24-24 overall and 15-11 in the A-10, marking its highest overall win total since 2003 and the most conference wins since 2001.The Minutemen have rebounded from a 1-7 start to Atlantic 10 play by posting a 14-4 mark in their last 18 conference games and have won the past five straight overall.
The Dukes pushed across a run in the top of the first of game one for their only lead of the day. Anthony Manley began the game with a walk and later crossed the plate on a fielder's choice RBI ground ball by Rick Devereaux.
UMass quickly erased the deficit in its half of the first as senior Sam Boone started things off with a double to right, while back-to-back one-out home runs by junior Brian Baudinet and senior Jim Macdonald put the Minutemen on top, 3-1.
UMass went on to post runs in six of its next seven turns at bat. Sophomores Kyle Multner and Matt Gedman scored on a dropped fly ball with two down in the second. After an RBI single by Bill Torre made it a 5-2 game in the top of the third, Boone added the Minutemen's sixth run of the contest with a solo shot to left in the bottom of the fourth.
Junior Mike Gedman and freshman Tom Conley came home on a single up the middle by Matt Gedman in the fifth. Then, following an RBI double by Manley in Duquesne's half of the sixth, Macdonald tagged his second home run of the game to tack on two more to the UMass total.
In the bottom of the seventh, Conley and Multner both crossed the plate on wild pitches, while Tempesta roped a double into center that plated Boone. The double was Tempesta's team-leading 18th of the season, tying for third in the program record book on the single season list.
Mike Gedman doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Peter Copa in the eighth to increase the Minutemen's advantage to 14-3, before Devereaux's RBI double and an RBI groundout by Mark Tracy in the top of the ninth brought the final score to 14-5.
Senior Mitchell Clegg started for UMass and logged the win (6-1) as he worked seven innings and held the Dukes to three runs, two earned, on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Ryan Juran suffered the loss (2-8) for Duquesne in game one as he let up 10 runs, seven earned, on 11 hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 5.1 innings on the hill.
In game two, the Minutemen got all the offense they would need in the third inning, bringing across seven runs on seven hits to take a 7-0 lead. Eleven batters came to the plate for UMass in the frame, with Multner recording the first and last hits for the squad, two singles. All seven runs came with two outs, capped off by a two-run homer by Matt Gedman.
In the top of the fifth, the Dukes broke up the shutout bid with RBI singles by Devereaux and Bill Torre. However, a pair of home runs in the Minutemen's half of the inning extended the lead out to 10-2. Junior Mike Donato led off with a long ball over the fence in left center, his fifth homer of the season. Then with two away, Multner crushed a two-run shot after Matt Gedman reached with a single.
Macdonald drove in Baudinet with a double to center field in the sixth to cap off the scoring. The senior designated hitter finished the day a team-best 8-for-5 at the plate with two homers, a double, five RBI and two runs scored over the two contests. Matt Gedman and Baudinet each hit 4-for-8 in the doubleheader with a home run. Gedman drove in three runs and scored three times, while Baudinet had two RBI and scored four runs.
Andrew Heck paced Duquesne's hitters as he was 5-for-8 over the two contests with a pair of doubles, while Manley scored a team-best four runs.
Sophomore Nick Serino recorded the victory (5-3) for UMass. In his start, he tossed 6.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and eight strikeouts. Gary Pierpont took the loss (3-7) for the Dukes as he was touched up for 10 runs, nine earned, on 13 hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
The teams will wrap up the regular season tomorrow at noon on Earl Lorden Field. It will be Senior Day for the Minutemen as the squad's eight seniors will be honored prior to the start of the contest.
