University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Harvard (Beanpot 1st Round)
Harvard Outduels UMass, 1-0 In Beanpot First Round
April 20, 2011 | Baseball
April 20, 2011
BROOKLINE, Mass. - The only run of the contest came in the bottom of the ninth as Harvard walked off with a 1-0 victory over UMass baseball in the opening round of the Beanpot on Wednesday afternoon at Northeastern's Friedman Diamond. With the loss, the Minutemen fall to 12-18 on the season, while the Crimson improves to 7-29.
UMass did not allow a runner to third until the seventh inning. Harvard had back-to-back two-out singles in the bottom of the first, but was unable to capitalize. Then with two on and one out in the bottom of the sixth, the Minutemen escaped a jam with an unassisted double play hit to senior Eric Fredette at second base.
Sean O'Hara led off the Crimson's half of the eighth with a single to center, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and tagged up to advance to third on a fly ball to right. UMass lefty Charlie Benson worked out of the inning without letting up run, however, fanning Jeff Reynolds to end the frame.
Then in the bottom of the ninth, Jack Colton drew a leadoff walk, was sacrificed over by O'Hara and came in for the game's only run on a single up the middle by Danny Moskovits.
The Minutemen were held without a hit until the sixth inning when sophomore Rich Graef hustled out an infield single before advancing to second on a failed pickoff and going to third on a ground ball, the second out of the inning. That was as close as UMass would come to plating a run on the afternoon, though, as Jonah Klees induced a inning-ending ground ball off the bat of Fredette.
Three runners were thrown out on the basepaths in the final three innings as Andrew Hatch worked around four hits and an intentional pass to collect the win (2-0). Hatch struck out three in his three innings of work as the Crimson staff finished with nine on the day. Benson was the hard-luck loser on the mound for the Minutemen, taking the loss (1-2) despite allowing just one run on nine hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 8.0 innings on the hill.
Senior Matt Gedman batted 2-for-4 at the plate to preserve his hitting streak, now at 17 games. Graef went 2-for-2, while junior Tom Conley provided the only other base hit for UMass, all singles.
Jake McGuiggan and Marcus Way both finished 2-for-4 for Harvard, while O'Hara hit 2-for-3.
The Minutemen will be back in action on Friday, Apr. 22, playing host to Xavier in the opener of the teams' Atlantic 10 series at 3 p.m. on Earl Lorden Field.
