May 3, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. -
Wrapping up a stretch of eight straight at home, the UMass baseball team will play host to Holy Cross on Tuesday and Northeastern on Wednesday this week, May 4 and 5. Both contests are slated for 3 p.m. starts on Earl Lorden Field. The Minutemen (12-22, 9-9) will be looking to build further momentum, coming off their fourth consecutive Atlantic 10 series win this past weekend over George Washington.
The Minutemen In 100 Words
The Minutemen closed out the decade last season with the team's highest wins total since 2001 (27). The squad rebounded from a 1-7 start to Atlantic 10 play in 2009 and won 16 conference games on the way to the A-10 Tournament, its first trip to the postseason since 2003. A veteran lineup, which includes players with three of the top-five batting from 2009 and four of the five top five ERAs (20 or more innings pitched). UMass was picked seventh out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll. Twelve newcomers fill out the squad as well.
About The Opponents
Holy Cross comes into the game against the Minuetmen holding a 23-22 record.
Most recently, the Crusaders dropped their final Patriot League regular season series of the year, three games to one against Lehigh.
Junior Nick Ciardiello paces the Holy Cross batters, having hit 10 home runs. Junior Jack Laurendeau follows with seven. Ciardiello has a .694 slugging percentage while Laurendeau follows closely with a .632. Senior Matt Perry holds a team-best .415 batting average.
Ciardiello also leads the team with 54 RBI. Sophomore Steve Tkowski follows with 36 RBI and freshman Stephen Wadsworth has 34 RBI.
The Holy Cross pitching staff holds a 6.12 ERA in 369.1 innings with 271 strikeouts to 190 walks.
Northeastern currently is 9-22 on the season and will play at Boston College on Tuesday.
Freshmen Jon Leroux and senior Tony DiCesare both hold squad-best .317 batting averages. DiCesare and sophomore Matt Miller have each hit two home runs for the Huskies, the squad has just nine in total on the year in 31 games.
Senior Frank Compagnone has driven in a team-high 25 RBI, while DiCesare has chipped in 21 RBI.
The Northeastern pitching staff has a 5.44 ERA in 273.1 innings with 230 strikeouts and 128 walks.
Baudinet Honored After Record Breaking Performance
After a record-breaking performance this past weekend against George Washington on May 2, senior centerfielder Brian Baudinet was honored as co-Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, co-UMass Athlete of the Week and as one of the Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Baudinet carried the Minutemen to a series-clinching victory over George Washington, becoming the first player in over 130 years of UMass baseball to hit four home runs in a single game. Baudinet drove in half of UMass' runs in the 14-13 win, going 5-for-5 in the contest and scoring four times. His record-setting homer in the eighth proved to be the deciding run.
Just the second player in the nation to homer four times in a game this season, Baudinet's long balls came off of four different Colonials pitchers. Only two players in NCAA history have hit more than four home runs in a game. Florida State's Marshall McDougall had six vs. Maryland on May 9, 1999, while Henry Rochelle of Campbell tallied five vs. Radford on March 30, 1985.
Bats Are On Fire
The UMass bats have come alive as of late. The squad has posted double-digit run totals in six of the latst nine games and has posted 10+ hits in seven of the past nine.
Over the past 10 games, the Minutemen are batting .342 as a team with 90 runs scored, 22 doubles, two triples and 18 home runs for a .560 slugging percentage.
In its first nine games to start 2010, the Minutemen had scored just 31 runs on 85 hits.
Seven members of UMass' starting nine have hit .300 and above over the past six contests, led by junior Eric Fredette (20-for-39, .513). During that span, senior Brian Baudinet has driven in a squad-leading 17 runs.
Over the past five games, five players are batting .400 or better, while the team has belted 13 long balls in that stretch.
Leigh Collecting Honors
Senior right-hander Bryan Leigh picked up a pair of honors on Apr. 19 as he was tabbed co-Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week and UMass Athlete of the Week, the first honors of his career. Leigh repeated as A-10 Pitcher of the Week, being recognized once again on Apr. 26.
Leigh was initially honored after pitching two complete games for a total of 18.0 innings, logging a pair of victories with a 2.50 ERA and nine strikeouts. On Apr. 14 on the road at Boston College, Leigh threw 145 pitches on the way to his first win of the season, helping the Minutemen defeat the Eagles, 8-4.
On Sunday, Apr. 18, Leigh clinched UMass' series victory at Rhode Island by posting a stellar performance on the mound as the Minutemen pounded the Rams, 13-1 in game three of the teams' A-10 series. Leigh went the distance without walking a batter and closed out the contest with seven shutout innings. He scattered nine hits and struck out three, as well.
Leigh won his third straight start on Apr. 24 as he pitched eight shutout innings in the series-clinching 12-0 win over Saint Louis. He scattered four hits, walking only two and striking out a career-high eleven batters.
In a streak spanning from his URI start to his start vs. George Washington on May. 2, Leigh strung together 17 consecutive shutout innings. With the victory against the Colonials, Leigh picked up his fourth win in as many starts.
Leigh has appeared in nine games on the year, starting five. He holds a 4-1 record with a 3.00 ERA as a starter with 38 strikeouts in 39.0 innings.
In A-10 play, Leigh has posted a 3.08 ERA, good for seventh in the conference, over 26.1 innings on the hill.
Three Makes History
Joining senior Bryan Leigh who was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week on Apr. 26, junior Eric Fredette and freshman Ryan Cusick were tabbed A-10 Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. It marked the first time in program history that UMass garnered all three awards in one week.
Fredette had a monster week at the plate, hitting .636 (14-for-22) with a double, two home runs, 10 RBI and seven runs scored. In game two against Saint Louis, Fredette capped off the Minutemen's comeback from a 9-3 deficit, hitting a three-run game-tying homer in the bottom of the eighth.
Cusick, UMass' leadoff hitter, scored a team-high nine runs on the week, including a squad-best five in the three-game series against Saint Louis. He hit .409 (9-for-22) over the team's five games, going 6-for-13 (.462) at the plate vs. the Billikens with a pair of doubles.
Picking Up Where He Left Off
2009 All-Atlantic 10 first team selection Mike Donato has picked up right up where he left off against conference foes as he is currently batting .366 (26-for-71) in conference play, good for 15th in the league.
Donato has seven doubles in 17, 11 RBI and 17 runs scored in 17 A-10 contests.
In 2009, Donato hit .386 in Atlantic 10 play (44-for-114) over 27 games with six doubles, four home runs, 26 RBI and 24 runs scored.
Juniors Stepping Up Offensively
Junior infielders Eric Fredette and Matt Gedman currently rank first and third on the squad in batting average at .405 (53-for-131) and .324 (48-for-148), respectively.
Fredette, a transfer from Vermont, has started 33 of 34 games thus far for the Minutemen and began his UMass career with an eight-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 30 of those contests he has played in. He is currently on a 16 game hit streak.
Fredette leads the Minutemen in multiple hit games this season with 16, while Matt Gedman is tied for the team lead in multi-RBI games with seven.
Fredette's 53 hits this season surpasses his two-year production at Vermont as he had a total of 24 hits in 50 career games with the Catamounts.
Gedman, who predominately played shortstop and second as a sophomore in 2009, has started all 34 games this season, 13 as the squad's third baseman.
Having hit safely in his final game of 2009, Gedman extended his hitting streak to 12 straight for a new career high. The hit streak ended in the second game of the squad's doubleheader at Saint Joseph's, though Gedman drew walks in each of the final two games of the series against the Hawks.
Just 34 games into 2010, Gedman has set several new career highs for a season, set in 44 games in 2009, for doubles (had eight in 2009, has 10 in 2010) and hits (had 37 in 2009, has 48 in 2010). He is also on pace to smash his personal best in RBI (25) and has surpassed his career high in runs scored (18) as he has totaled 24 RBI to date and has scored a squad-best 28 runs.
Hitting Streaks
Ten Minutemen have registered hitting streaks of five or more games this season, led by junior infielder Eric Fredette who is currently on a 16-game hit streak. Other UMass players with streaks of 5+ games include: Brian Baudinet (11 games), Matt Gedman (11 games), Mike Donato (nine games), Mike Gedman (nine games), Ryan Cusick (seven games) Tom Conley (six games), Alex Fischer (six games), Kyle Multner (five games) and Peter Copa (five games).
Fredette holds the longest active hitting streak, now at 16 straight games.
Welcome Re-Leif
Sophomore Leif Sorenson has emerged as the UMass closer, boasting a team-best 3.33 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched. In 14 appearances, Sorenson has a 2-1 record, four saves and 12 strikeouts.
In Atlantic 10 play, Sorenson has not given up an earned run in eight appearances, a total of 14.0 innings, and is 1-0 with four saves and an opponent batting average of .200.
Sorenson ranks second in saves in A-10 play and tied for fourth overall.
Record Watch
With his 10th career triple on Apr. 21 vs. Harvard, senior Brian Baudinet pulled into a tie for second on the program's all-time list. With 34 career doubles, Baudinet is three away from that top-10, while classmate Mike Donato is two shy of the top-10 in career doubles (35). Baudinet is tied for eighth in career walks, as well, with 79.
Jared Freni became the sole owner of the UMass record for career starts when he took the mound at Rhode Island on Apr. 17. He is currently adding to his own record and is at 42 for his career, having surpassed Bob Kostro's (1983-86) and Keith Doherty's (2001-05) previous record of 39.
Counting The Ks
In Atlantic 10 play, UMass leads the conference with 159 batters struck out over 18 conference games. Individually, Serino is first with 60 strikeouts against A-10 foes, while Freni is sixth with 38.
Junior Nick Serino has rung up 66 batters (11.96 per-nine innings, while senior Jared Freni has 47 in 52 innings (8.13 per-nine innings).
As a staff, the Minutemen have struck out 10 or more 10 times in 34 games. Serino has four games this season with 10+ strikeouts (13 at Saint Joseph's, 10 vs. Richmond, 10 at Rhode Island, 13 vs. George Washington), while Mike Gedman fanned 10 against Saint Joseph's and Freni struck out 13 against Richmond and Bryan Leigh K'd a career-high 11 against Saint Louis.
The Minutemen pitching staff set a program record with 387 strikeouts in 53 games in 2009. In 34 contests thus far, UMass has fanned 258.
A CLASS-y Guy
Senior outfielder Mike Donato has been selected as one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Donato, the lone representative from the Atlantic 10, is joined on the list of finalists by Daniel Bibona (University of California, Irvine), Stephen Cardullo (Florida State), Blake Dean (LSU), Jim Klocke (Southeast Missouri State), Cory Kovanda (Ohio State), Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State), Matt Payton (Western Kentucky), Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) and David Towarnicky (Appalachian State).
Nationwide balloting begins immediately to determine the winner, which will be announced in June at the NCAA Men's College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Donato, along with the nine other candidates, will be placed on the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award baseball ballot for a nationwide vote concluding May 31. Fan balloting is available on the award's official Web site, www.SeniorCLASSaward.com, as well as through text messaging. Fans can text BASEBALL to 74567 to vote for the finalists. These votes will be combined with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Beyond his success on the field, Donato boasts a 3.41 grade-point average as a History major and aspires to become a teacher and work in a low-income community.
Home Runs Threats
Eight different UMass players have combined for the squad's 36 home runs thus far with senior Mike Gedman leading the way with seven, surpassing his career best total from 2009 (5).
Junior Peter Copa has a career best six homers on the year, while Matt Gedman has a new career high after hitting his first career grand slam on Apr. 18 at Rhode Island, currently at five four the year.
Six UMass players have tallied multi-home run games this season as junior Kyle Multner hit two out at William & Mary on Mar. 21, Copa belted a pair at Saint Joseph's on Mar. 27, junior Eric Fredette launched the first two long balls of his collegiate career on Apr. 7 vs. UConn, Mike Gedman belted a pair against Harvard on Apr. 21 in the Beanpot Consolation game, Tom Conley had two vs. George Washington on May 2 and Brian Baudinet hit four in that contest, a new UMass single game record.
Brothers Matt and Mike Gedman have homered twice in the same game this season, on Mar. 20, at William & Mary and on Apr. 7 vs. UConn.
The Minutemen have hit back-to-back homers five times this season: Tom Conley and Multner (ninth inning at William & Mary, 3/21), Fredette and Matt Gedman (first inning vs. UConn, 4/7), Fredette and Matt Gedman (eighth inning vs. Saint Louis, game one, 4/24), Copa and Mike Gedman (fourth inning vs. Saint Louis, game two, 4/24) and Baudinet and Copa (sixth inning vs. George Washington, 5/2).
Home Sweet Home
The Minutemen enjoyed a great deal of success at Earl Lorden Field last year, posting a 14-6 record with a .356 (255-717) team batting average, including ending the 2009 campaign with six straight victories and won their home opener in 2010 to make it seven straight before having the streak snapped against UConn on Apr. 7.
UMass is 7-5 at home this season and is batting .350 with 103 runs scored, 33 doubles and 21 home runs.
Eric Fredette and Matt Gedman are hitting over .400 at home, Fredette leads the way at .571 (24-for-51) with four homers, 17 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Tremendous Trio
UMass returns all three of members from its talented outfield contingent from a year ago, comprised of Kyle Multner (left), Brian Baudinet (center) and Mike Donato (right). The trio accounted for 148 games played out of a possible 159 in 2009, including a school-record 53 by both Baudinet and Donato.
Baudinet has started 126 consecutive games in a streak dating back to March 9, 2008 at Arizona State.
Multner, Baudinet and Donato combined for 22 of the team's 60 home runs and 104 of the Minutemen's 340 RBI. Multner finished 2009 tied for the team lead in homers with nine, while Baudinet and Donato ranked second and fourth on the squad in RBI.
The three outfielders are the team leaders in career homers, Baudinet with 19, Multner with 14 and Donato with 13. Baudinet started off the 2010 campaign on a high note, leading off the season opener at Oklahoma State by hitting a home run on the second pitch of the contest. Multner has two homers on the season, while Donato has two, most recently hitting one out on Apr. 16 at Rhode Island.
Donato, a co-captain along with Baudinet and senior Jared Freni, was an All-Atlantic 10 First Team outfielder in 2009. Baudinet was an All-New England selection in 2008.
First Series Win Over The Spiders
With a 6-3 win over Richmond on Apr. 11, UMass captured its first series against the Spiders all time, going 0-6 in its previous six series with Richmond.
UMass entered the weekend 7-15 all-time against the Spiders since 1997.
New Faces
In addition to the squad's eight freshmen, UMass has four transfers who have seen their first action as Minutemen this season.
Sophomore Isaac Oakley transferred to UMass from Oregon State prior to last season but missed all of 2009 with an arm injury.
The Minutemen have also added three transfers from Vermont, which discontinued its baseball program at the conclusion of 2009: junior Eric Fredette (2B), sophomore Leif Sorenson (RHP) and sophomore Ben Hart (RHP).
Freshman Firsts
Freshmen Ryan Cusick and Rich Graef earned their first collegiate starts on March 24 against Hartford.
Cusick went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored, all firsts for the infielder.
Graef tallied a hit in his first collegiate at bat at Oklahoma Sate on March 13 and was 2-for-3 against Harford with a double an RBI and a run scored.
Anthony Serino started his first collegiate game on Apr. 4 at Charlotte.
Serino's Strikeout Success
Junior Nick Serino, who spent the bulk of the 2009 season as the Minutemen's No. 2 starter in the weekend rotation, finished his sophomore campaign with an Atlantic 10-leading 10.62 strikeouts per-nine innings and ranked 30th in the nation.
His 72 strikeouts, which ranked second on the team, placed Serino sixth in the Atlantic 10 in 2009.
Serino carried his success into summer ball where he earned an all-star nod playing for the Lowell All-Americans of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL).
In his 2010 debut, Serino struck out six batters in five innings of work at Oklahoma State on March 14.
Serino rung up a career-high 13 batters at Saint Joseph's on Mar. 27, but suffered a hard-luck 1-0 loss against the Hawks. It marked the junior's third career game with 10+ strikeouts.
In two career starts against Saint Joseph's, Serino has logged two complete games and a combined 23 Ks.
The southpaw added his fourth career 10-strikeout game, ringing up 10 in his start against Richmond on Apr. 10. He then made it two consecutive starts with double-digit strikeouts as he fanned 10 batters in 6.2 innings on Apr. 16 in UMass' 6-4 win over Rhode Island.
Serino matched his career high with 13 strikeouts vs. George Washington on Apr. 30, his fifth career contest with 10+ Ks and fourth of the year.
Serino has 172 strikeouts in 156.1 career innings pitched, an average of 9.90 strikeouts per nine innings. He is currently five shy of the top-10 in school history for career strikeouts and is 62 shy of the program record, held by Jeff Reardon and Carl Boteze.
Serino entered last weekend ranked 20th in the nation in strikeouts per-nine innings (11.09) and currently ranks fourth in the A-10 in strikeouts and 10th in opponent batting average (.277), first in conference games with 60 in 42.0 innings pitched. In A-10 games, Serino is eighth in innings pitched and ninth in opponent batting average (.245).
A Solid Core
Despite losing two All-Region players to graduation in designated hitter Jim Macdonald and left-handed pitcher Mitchell Clegg, along with the just the third player in program history to tally 200+ career hits, Adam Tempesta, the 2010 squad includes a solid core of returnees.
In the field, seven players currently on the Minutemen roster had 40+ games played last season.
Even with the absence of 2009 staff ace Clegg, UMass brings back its number two and number three weekend starters from a year ago in senior co-captain Jared Freni and junior Nick Serino.
Freni and Serino ranked second and third on the squad last season in innings pitched at 73.2 and 61.0, respectively.
In 2009, Freni set a program record for games started in a season with 15.
Young But Experienced
Tom Conley was thrown right into the fire as a freshman in 2009, earning the role of starting catcher as he played in 49 of 53 games, starting 46 behind the plate.
Conley was an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honoree and hit .312 with 22 runs scored, seven doubles and drew 24 walks. He was a perfect 5-for-5 on the base paths.
Defensively, Conley boasted the squad's best fielding percentage among regular starters (.979) and had just five passed balls. He picked off three and thwarted 19 stolen base attempts.
2009 Records
The 2009 season was a year of record-book performances for the Minutemen co-captains. Senior outfielders Mike Donato and Brian Baudinet played all 53 games last season, tying each other for the single-season record.
Donato also took first in at-bats (217) and tied for sixth in hits (73), while Baudinet tied for third in single-season triples (5), fourth in walks (35), fourth in at-bats (209), seventh in runs (54) and seventh in total bases (113).
Senior Jared Freni started a program-record 15 games last season.
Family Affair
With the addition of Anthony Serino, two sets of brothers are on the Minutemen squad this season.
Anthony, a freshman outfielder, joins his brother Nick, a junior left-handed pitcher who went 5-4 last season and finished with 72 strikeouts, second-most on the team, in 61 innings.
The other brothers, junior Matt and senior Mike Gedman, had a combined 78 hits and 50 runs batted in last season. Mike also pitched in 15 games, holding down a 2.42 earned run average to go along with five saves in 2009. The Gedman's have combined for 80 hits, 14 doubles, 12 home runs and 45 RBI thus far in 2010.
Hometown Heroes
Of the 31 members of the team, 21 hail from within Massachusetts.
Five of the Minutemen are alums of Malden Catholic High School, while two of their conference rivals, Boston College High and Catholic Memorial, are also represented on the team with one player each.
The 10 out-of-staters come from Connecticut (7), New Hampshire (1), Pennsylvania (1) and New York (1). 
