University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
4-5
Bucknell
6-8
Baseball Upends Bucknell, 17-5
March 16, 2017 | Baseball
Massachusetts opened the scoring in the top of the second when sophomore Cooper Mrowka reached with a one-out double and senior Dylan Morris drove him in with a single to right. The Minutemen then went up 2-0 in the third courtesy of a sacrifice fly by junior Brett Evangelista that plated freshman Eddy Hart.
Still holding a 2-0 lead, UMass broke the game open with a four-run top of the sixth, which included a two-run single from senior Matt Bare.
The Minutemen added four more in the eighth on five hits in the eighth to expand the advantage to 10-0, sending 10 batters to the plate.
Bucknell took three of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning, only to have UMass explode for seven in the top of the ninth. Mrowka hit his second home run of the season in the frame, a two-run shot to left.
The Bison capped the scoring by plating two runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Sophomore Justin Lasko collected the win (1-1) on the mound for the Minutemen, going 7.1 innings in his start and allowing three runs, one earned, on eight hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Bucknell starter Danny Rafferty took the loss (0-2). He surrendered six runs, two earned, on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts over six innings of work.
Evangelista (2-for-4) and Bare (3-for-4) had career days at the plate for the Minutemen with career highs of four RBI and three RBI, respectively. Mrowka was 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored, while Hart and Nolan Kessinger scored three runs apiece.
UMass and Bucknell will be back in action tomorrow, March 17, with game two of the series set for 2 p.m.
For continued coverage of UMass baseball, follow the team on Twitter @UMassBaseball and on Facebook at facebook.com/UMassBaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lasko, Justin (1-1)
L: Rafferty, Danny (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Evangelista, Brett 1 ; Mrowka, Cooper 1 ; Kessinger, Nolan 1
HR: Mrowka, Cooper 1
RBI: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Evangelista, Brett 4 ; Greene, Logan 1 ; Mrowka, Cooper 3 ; Morris, Dylan 2 ; Bare, Matt 3 ; Smith, Connor 1
SH: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Hart, Eddy 1
SF: Evangelista, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Evangelista, Brett 2 ; Geannelis, Mike 1 ; Greene, Logan 1 ; Mrowka, Cooper 3 ; Kessinger, Nolan 3 ; Morris, Dylan 1 ; Bare, Matt 2 ; Hart, Eddy 3
SB: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Morris, Dylan 1
Batting:
2B: Chernin, Marc 2 ; Johnson, Luke 1 ; Rafferty, Danny 1
RBI: Salem, Alex 1 ; Chernin, Marc 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Brett 1 ; Chernin, Marc 1 ; Scales, Chuckie 1 ; Moore, Miles 1 ; Rafferty, Danny 1
CS: Scales, Chuckie 1
HBP: Moore, Miles 1
