Baseball Looks to Extend Win Streak as Florida Trip Continues

University of Massachusetts Baseball Game Notes
Games 7-11	Massachusetts (2-4) vs. North Dakota State/Harvard/Bucknell
Dates \| Times	Tuesday, March 14, 1 p.m. \| Wednesday, March 15, 10:30 a.m. \| Thursday, March 16 – Saturday, March 18 \| 3 p.m./5 p.m./9 a.m.
Location \| Weather	Winter Haven, Fla. Tuesday: 71 Degrees, Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain: 10% Port Charlotte, Fla. Wednesday: 69 Degrees, Sunnyy, Chance of Rain: 0% Thursday: 69 Degrees, Sunny, Chance of Rain: 0% Friday: 76 Degrees, Sunny, Chance of Rain: 0% Saturday: 79 Degrees, Sunny, Chance of Rain: 10%
Series History	vs. NDSU: first meeting \| vs. Harvard: Harvard leads, 31-19 \| vs. Bucknell: UMass leads, 4-1
Live Statistics	SideArm
Social Media	Twitter: @UMassBaseball \| @NDSUBaseball
Probable Starters	Massachusetts: TBA NDSU: TBA Harvard: TBA Bucknell: TBA

Batting Practice
- Massachusetts baseball continues play on its spring break trip to Florida against North Dakota State on Tuesday at 1 p.m., beginning a stretch of five games in five days for the Mintuemen. The Bison enter Tuesday afternoon's contest with a 7-8 record, after taking one of three games from Atlantic 10 foe St. Bonaventure. Tuesday's contest will be played in Winter Haven, Florida, before the team heads further south to Port Charlotte for four more contests to end the week. On Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., UMass will face off against Harvard, leading the squad into a three-game series against Bucknell of the Patriot League. These games will be played on Thursday at 3 p.m., Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m., ending the Minutemen's trek through the Sunshine State.

Recap in a Minute
- The Minutemen last played on Sun., Mar. 12, notching their second win of 2017 with a 10-6 victory over Maine in Delray Beach, Florida. Brett Evangelista and Cooper Mrowka each had two hits in the game and Mrowka and Jon Avallone each belted home runs, the first two of UMass' season.
- On the mound, Mike Geannelis received the win (1-1) and freshman Christian Rosati recorded the first save of his collegiate career.
- UMass won its first game of the season on Saturday by a score of 5-1, after coming from behind and putting up four runs in the fifth inning.

Scouting North Dakota State
- After a taking only one of three games from Atlantic 10 foe St. Bonaventure, the Bison look to get back to .500, as they currently sit with a 7-8 record.
- Junior Mason Pierzchalsk leads the NDSU offense with a .370 batting average in 54 at bats. Ben Petersen has been the bulk of the Bison power, with a team leading six home runs, 17 RBI and a .692 slugging percentage. - On the hill, the Bison have three pitchers with an ERA under 2.00 with one save apiece in Chris Choles, Sean Terres, and Kevin Folman. Luke Lind leads the squad's starters with two wins and 21 strikeouts over 23.2 innings pitched.

Scouting Harvard
- Harvard currently sits with a 5-3 record, with one more game to play against Bucknell, before the squad takes on the Minutemen on Wednesday.
- Junior Matt Rothenberg has shown early success from the plate with a team leading .500 batting average (8 for 16). Sophomore outfielders Trent Bryan and Patrick Robinson are also batting above the .300 mark in the young season, with .353 and .346 averages respectively.
- Ian Miller and Kevin Stone have been dominant from the starting role for the Crimson so far, combing for three of the teams five wins. In 16.2 innings pitched Miller posts a 1.08 ERA with 11 strikeouts, while Stone is 2-0 over 11.2 innings pitched.

Scouting Bucknell
- Bucknell currently sits with a 6-5 record, with two more game to play (Harvard and Ohio State) before the Bison take on the Minutemen on in a three-game series, beginning Thursday at 3 p.m.
- The Bison have four players batting above the .300 mark 11 games into the season, led by senior Danny Rafferty with a .351 batting average. Rafferty is trailed closely by Keifer Rawlings who is hitting.333 with a squad-best .567 slugging percentage. Rafferty and Rawlings have combined for 20 of Bucknell's 44 RBI this season.
- Sophomore RHP Jeff Gottesman has been outstanding on the mound, with one win over three starts and a 1.06 ERA over the course of a team-high 17.0 innings pitched. In addition to Gottesman, Connor Van Hoose has shown early success, striking out 23 batters in just 15.1 innings.

The Firsts Continue
- In addition to picking up their first and second wins, the Minutemen saw many players break into new categories during the Maine series.
- Freshman LHP Brooks Knapek record his first collegiate win in his start in the second game of UMass' series against Maine, striking out six over 7.2 innings pitched and limiting the Black Bears to one run.
- Freshman RHP Carter Knapek faced nine batters over two scoreless innings in his UMass debut in the final game of the series against Maine. Relieving Carter Knapek was fellow classmate Christian Rosati, who earned his first save on the season.
Riding the Wave
- Heading into the remaining five games of the spring break trip against North Dakota State, Harvard and Bucknell, the Minutemen look to better their two-game win streak.
- Sophomore Ryan Lever is currently on a four-game hitting streak, while Junior Brett Evangelista boasts a three-game streak. Over the past four games Lever is 6-for-13 (.462) with two walks and Evangelista is 4-for-11 (.367) over the course of the last three games.

Eight is Great
- Throughout the 2017 season, the Minutemen will play in eight different states: North Carolina, Florida, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York; UMass will also head to Washington D.C.

On Deck
- After eight straight games in the state of Florida, UMass baseball returns to Massachusetts to take on Holy Cross in Worcester on Tuesday, March 21 at 5 p.m. The Minutemen will then head Virginia to play their first Atlantic 10 Conference series of the season against George Washington, March 24-26.

Scoreboard

Baseball Looks to Extend Win Streak as Florida Trip Continues

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jon Avallone

Brett Evangelista

Mike Geannelis

Brooks Knapek

Carter Knapek

Ryan Lever

Cooper Mrowka

Christian Rosati

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics