University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Saint Joseph's
Baseball Falls At Saint Joseph's 6-0
April 13, 2012 | Baseball
April 13, 2012
MERION STATION, Pa. - Unable to solve starter Kyle Mullen, the UMass baseball team dropped its series opener at Saint Joseph's on Friday afternoon, 6-0. The setback snaps a streak of four straight victories for the Minutemen, who now sit at 10-11 overall and 5-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Hawks improve to 14-20 overall and 5-2 in conference play after collecting their sixth straight victory.
With the first two hits of the afternoon, Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Brian O'Keefe drove a one-out triple to the gap in right center and scored on an RBI single to left by Stefan Kancylarz.
The Hawks then expanded their advantage to 3-0 after plating two in the bottom of the fourth. O'Keefe sent a single into right and went to third when the next batter, Kancylarz, reached on a two-base error to set up a two-run double by Lansing Veeder.
Saint Joseph's added more insurance in the sixth. Veeder drew a leadoff walk, was sacrificed over to second and came in on a double to right center by Ryan Pater. With the bases loaded, Greg Kumpel was hit by a pitch to force in the Hawks' fifth run of the afternoon. Kevin Taylor then came through with a sacrifice fly to right that brought in Kevin Kratochwill.
UMass starter Dennis Torres took the loss (2-3) as he surrendered six runs, five earned, on nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Mullen tossed the complete game shutout for Saint Joseph's to collect the win (4-4). He scattered five hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Junior Rich Graef went 2-for-3 on the afternoon for the Minutemen. Sophomore Dylan Begin had UMass' only extra base hit in the contest, a double in the top of the eighth. For the Hawks, O'Keefe led the way with a 3-for-4 afternoon with a double, a triple and two runs scored.
The teams will be back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. for game two of the weekend series.
