April 14, 2011
AMHERST, Mass. -
The UMass baseball team begins a stretch of six straight days with games this Friday, Apr. 15 when the squad will open up its Atlantic 10 series at Temple at 3 p.m. Following the three-game set against the Owls in Ambler, Pa., the Minutemen (9-15, 3-3 A-10) will return home to play Connecticut on Monday before heading to CCSU on Tuesday and facing Harvard in the opening round of the Beanpot in Lowell on Wednesday.
Scouting Temple
Temple is entering Friday's game with a 15-14 record and is 2-7 in the Atlantic 10 after having lost its last four straight.
The Owls lead the nation in batting average, hitting at a .347 clip as a squad. William Remillard, Taylor Juran, Steve Nikorak, Byron McKoy, Ryan Ferguson, and Adrian Perez are all hitting over .350 while playing at a minimum of 21 games started. Freshman catcher, Will Remillard is leading the bunch with a .380 batting average in 92 at bats.
Senior catcher/ first baseman, Ryan Ferguson is hitting .371, while leading the team with seven home runs. Senior, Byron McKoy is one of two threats on the base paths, stealing 11 bags in 11 tries. The outfielder is also one of the team's top hitters with a .375 batting average. The other base stealer is Jabair Khan, the junior outfielder is 9-10 on steal attempts and is hitting .324 on the season.
The Temple pitching staff holds an earned run average of 5.83 with their top starter, Brant Norlander, posting a 4.89 ERA in 49.2 innings on the mound. Coming out of the bullpen, Jimmy Devine leads the way with a 3.38 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched. The righty has allowed 17 walks, but has managed to strike out 22 batters on the season.
UMass has historically enjoyed success with a 42-20-1 record over Temple. The last time these two teams met was in 2009, when UMass won the final game in the three game series in Amherst.
Looking Ahead To Connecticut, Central Connecticut and Harvard
The Huskies, ranked No. 20 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, come into Monday's matchup with still to play a single game against Brown and a weekend conference series against Villanova and are currently 17-12-1 on the season.
UConn is led by two highly-touted pro prospects. Offensively, the Huskies are paced junior outfielder George Springer. He leads the team in extra base hits (16), RBI (28) and slugging percentage (.600). Junior pitcher Matt Barnes boasts the Huskies' top ERA (1.03), and leads in strikeouts (54) and opponent batting average (.148).
The Minutemen are 72-80-3 all-time against UConn with their victory coming in 2008. The Huskies won last years battle 15-11.
CCSU, sitting at 14-12-1 on the year, plays Stony Brook and three games against Fairfield before hosting the Minutemen Tuesday afternoon.
As a team the Blue Devils are hitting at a .290 clip with an on base percentage of .383.
During its 2011 campaign Central Connecticut is off to a 9-2-1 start in home games. Against CCSU, UMass holds an all-time record of 20-9, with their last win coming in 2007.
Harvard will come into the first round of the Beanpot against the Minutemen with a four game set still to play against Brown and currently holds a record of 4-25.
As a team the Crimson are hitting .234, and have a team ERA of 6.82.
Against Harvard all-time UMass is 16-25. In Beanpot games alone, the Minutemen are 7-3 versus the Crimson. Last season in the Beanpot, UMass won the match-up 15-11.
Gedman And Copa Among A-10's Most Dangerous Hitters
Through 24 games, senior Matt Gedman is currently leading the Atlantic 10 with a .452 batting average and was ranked fifth in the country in the latest NCAA statistics report.
Senior Peter Copa boasts a team-leading 19 walks, contributing to his A-10-leading .509 on base percentage. He was 19th in the country in the latest NCAA statistics report in on base percentage. Gedman ranks second with the conference with a .485 on base percentage.
Gedman and Copa rank No. 2 and No. 3 in the Atlantic 10 in slugging percentage at .677 and .671, respectively. Copa has seven of the team's 15 home runs, along with one triple and three doubles. Gedman has six doubles, three triples and three homers to his credit.
Situationally, Gedman is hitting a blistering .500 (23-for-46) with runners on base and .474 (18-for-38) with two outs.
With 13 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games, Gedman paces UMass in both categories. He posted a career high with five base knocks against Indiana and then once again went 5-for-6 at Hartford.
Copa leads the Minutemen in RBI (23) and Gedman follows with 19. Gedman has scored a team-high 22 runs, while Copa is second with 20.
Both Gedman and Copa have extremely high OPS numbers at 1.162 and 1.180 respectively.
Hitters Comfortable At Home
Through the opening weekend of the Minutemen's home schedule, the squad is batting .352 (38-for-108) at Earl Lorden Field with seven players boasting averages of .333 or higher.
Topping that list is senior Peter Copa who hit .667 (8-for-12) against Dayton this past weekend with seven RBI and four runs scored.
In 17 games at home last season, UMass posted a .353 batting average.
What A Way To Begin An A-10 Career
In Atlantic 10 play, freshman Dylan Begin leads the Minutemen with a .500 batting average.
He is 7-for-14 at the plate and holds a .611 on base percentage.
Making The Most Of Opportunities
Despite tallying 54 less hits than its opponents, UMass has scored just 16 fewer runs. Contributing to the Minutemen's scoring production are 94 walks and 43 sacrifices.
With the bases loaded, UMass is hitting .423 (11-for-26), compared to a .200 (6-for-30) clip by its opponents.
Leaving The Yard
UMass brought back two of its three home run leaders from last season in seniors Peter Copa and co-captain Kyle Multner who tied 2010 graduate Mike Gedman with a squad-best eight home runs last spring. Matt Gedman (6), Tom Conley (5) and Eric Fredette (4) also contributed to the Minutemen's total of 51 homers in 2010.
The Minutemen enter this week's action tied for third in the Atlantic 10 with 15 home runs, despite having played the least amount of games to date. In the latest NCAA statistics report, UMass ranked 58th in the country in home runs per-game.
Multner is the active career leader with 22 round trippers. With his first home run of the season, coming on Mar. 19 vs. Northwestern, Multner broke into the program's top-10 all-time for career homers, tying Steve Allen (1985-88) and Doug Clark (1996-98) for 10th. He is now tied with Stephen Kern (1986-89) and Jason Twomley (2002-05) for eighth and needs one to match Chris Morgan (1999-2003).
Copa hit UMass' first home run of 2011 on Mar. 5 at Sam Houston State and currently leads the squad with seven on the season, tied for second in the Atlantic 10 and is 23rd in the country in home runs per-game. He hit long balls in three consecutive games, vs. Navy, Army and Indiana at the RussMatt Invitational. He now has 20 for his career with the Minutemen.
Gedman had his first career multi-homer game with two against George Washington in game one of the teams' doubleheader on Mar. 26. He is tied for second in conference play with three home runs in A-10 games.
Quick Minutemen
After finishing 27-for-40 on stolen base attempts in 46 games in 2010, UMass has already swiped 23 bags in 35 attempts through 24 games this season.
Peter Copa leads the squad with a perfect 9-for-9 on the base paths in 23 games, a career high, and stole three against UMBC alone. Ryan Cusick led last year's squad with an 8-for-10 clip.
UMass had seven stolen bases in its 9-5 victory over UMBC, the highest total since the squad stole eight vs. Hartford on Mar. 26, 2008.
Gedman Collects Weekly Award
Senior infielder Matt Gedman was selected as the UMass Athlete of the Week, Mar. 21, after helping the Minutemen to a 3-3 week at the RussMatt Invitational in Winter Haven, Fla.
Over six games, Gedman batted .500, going 15-for-30, with four multi-hit games, eight RBI, five runs scored and three doubles.
In a one-run loss to Indiana, Gedman registered a career-high five hits, going 5-for-6 at the plate with three RBI. Against Northwestern, the second of three straight victories for the Minutemen, Gedman hit 4-for-5 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. He capped off the week by going 2-for-4 in a 9-5 win over UMBC, scoring once and driving in a run.
Misho Honored By A-10
Junior right-hander Glen Misho was named co-Atlantic 10 pitcher of the week on Mar. 14, his first career honor and first for a member of the Minutemen this season.
To open up UMass' trip to the RussMatt Invitational, Misho tossed his first career complete game, pitching the Minutemen to a 2-1 victory over Toledo, the squad's first win of the year.
Misho scattered eight hits and allowed just one run while recording eight strikeouts to two walks. Out of his 111 pitches in the contest, 76 were thrown for strikes.
Leading The Way
Senior co-captain Eric Fredette is the team's top returning hitter after posting a .384 average at the plate last season on his way to Atlantic 10 Second Team honors.
Fredette racked up 71 hits in 2010, which tied for ninth all-time in program history for a single season. He finished his junior campaign with a team-best 22 multi-hit games.
In his first season at UMass after transferring from Vermont, the second baseman played and started 45 of the squad's 46 games and totaled 32 runs scored, 11 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 31 RBI. His team-best 19 walks helped him boast a .443 on-base percentage, while he led the squad with 10 sacrifices, as well.
Fredette registered a team-high 22 multi-hit games on the year in 2010 and hit safely in 40 of the 45 contests he appeared in, reaching base in all but one.
Young Arms
After losing two weekend starters from last season's rotation to graduation (Bryan Leigh and Jared Freni) and another to the professional ranks (Nick Serino), the Minutemen have assembled a brand new starting rotation in 2011.
Senior Charlie Benson was the most tenured member of the UMass pitching staff coming into 2011 with 61.2 career innings pitched.
Out of UMass' 12 hurlers, six are from the freshman and sophomore classes.
Three Minutemen made their first collegiate appearances at the Bearkat Invitational. Freshman Ryan Lubreski threw 1.2 shutout innings against Michigan and struck out two in his debut. Sophomore Dennis Torres gave up just one earned run in 4.0 innings on the hill and fanned four against Sam Houston State on Mar. 5. Freshman Aaron Plunkett made his first appearance on Mar. 20 against UMBC. He struck out a season-high four batters at Connecticut on Apr. 6 and made his first career start on Apr. 12 at Siena.
Welcome Re-Leif
Junior Leif Sorenson posted a team-leading 3.94 ERA last year in 19 appearances, including one start. Sorenson worked 29.2 innings in 2010, the most among the returning Minutemen. He registered five saves on the season, tying him for fourth all-time on the UMass single season saves list.
Sorenson currently has four saves on the year and is now tied for third on the program's career list with nine. He is one away from matching the school record, currently held by Mitchell Eilenberg (2006-09) and Scott Ratliff (2002-04).
In 10 appearances on the season, Soreson holds a 3.66 ERA over 19.2 innings and 15 strikeouts. As a reliever, his ERA stands at 2.40 in 15.0 innings of work with 13 strikeouts.
In Atlantic 10 play, Sorenson has not yet allowed an earned run in five appearances, a total of 8.1 innings. He has given up just one unearned and a total of three hits in that span with six strikeouts, no walks and an opponent batting average of .115.
Sorenson's 0.00 ERA in conference play ranks first among all A-10 pitchers. Overall, he is tied for third in saves with four.
Youth Movement
The Minutemen are a young bunch in 2011 as 13 of the 31 players on the roster are freshmen. Making up the rest of the squad are five sophomores, seven juniors and six seniors.
Three newcomers have joined the Minutemen out of the same high school, Essex in Essex Junction, Vt. Dylan Begin, Adam Picard and Aaron Plunkett helped the Hornets win state titles in 2008 and 2010. Picard was named the Vermont Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior.
Career Firsts
Ten Minutemen made their collegiate debuts at the Bearkat invitational on opening weekend of 2011.
On Friday, Mar. 4, vs. Michigan, sophomore Anthony Serino and freshmen Dylan Begin and Josh Messier tallied their first collegiate hits with Serino picking up his first career RBI, as well.
Freshman Nik Campero had his first hit against the Wolverines on Mar. 5, while Begin drove in a run in that contest, his first RBI.
Freshmen Kyle Adie and Adam Picard notched their first hits as Minutemen in back-to-back games against Sam Houston State on Mar. 5 and 6, respectively.
Begin hit his first career home run on Mar. 20 against UMBC, while Adie had his first career multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 against Northwestern on Mar. 18.
At George Washington, Messier began the series with his first career multi-RBI game and had his first career multi-hit game in the series finale, driving in three runs against the Colonials.
Serino ripped his first career home run in a pinch hit at bat of UMass' 6-3 victory over George Washington on Mar. 26.
On Mar. 29 at Holy Cross, freshman Alex Tuneski recorded his first collegiate hit and classmate Rob McLam appeared in his first career game.
McLam collected his first career RBI and run scored at Hartford on Mar. 31 and tallied his first collegiate hit against Albany on Apr. 2. Tuneski picked up his first RBI at Hartford, as well.
Hitting Streaks
Senior Peter Copa ended 2010 with a six game hitting streak and hit safely in the first three contests to start 2011 to extend the streak to a career-best nine games.
Matt Gedman holds the longest active hitting streak for UMass, now at 11 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the conference and tied for seventh on the year. He hit safely in 14 straight last season.
Senior Kyle Multner had an eight-game hitting streak spanning from Mar. 18 to Apr. 2. He registered a career-long 14 game hitting streak as a freshman in 2008.
Eric Fredette recorded the team's longest hitting streak of 2010 at 16 games. Fredette's season long hitting streak thus far was six games.
Franczek Returns To Alma Mater
Former Minuteman third baseman Ryan Franczek returned to his alma mater this offseason and is in his first year on the UMass coaching staff this spring.
Franczek, who played at UMass from 2005-08, was a .286 career hitter (155-for-579), totaling 34 doubles, seven triples 12 home runs, 73 RBI and 155 runs scored. He appeared in 164 career games, which ranks ninth all-time, starting 152. His career walks total (77) is presently tied for 10th all-time at UMass.
Franczek's best campaign with the Minutemen was in 2006 when he saw action in 42 games as a sophomore, hit .307, drove in 27 runs and scored 33. He was awarded The E. Joseph Thompson Memorial MVP Trophy that season. Franczek had four triples in 2006, tying him currently for ninth in the UMass record book for a single season and also ranks tied for sixth in a season with 10 hit by pitches that year.
Up Next
After its stretch of six straight games, the Minutemen will be off on Thursday, Apr. 21, before playing host to Xavier in a three-game series next weekend, Apr. 22-24. Game one against the Musketeers is scheduled for Friday, Apr. 22, at 3 p.m. on Earl Lorden Field. 
