Baseball Back in Bay State to Face Holy Cross Tuesday

University of Massachusetts Baseball Game Notes
Game 12	Massachusetts (4-7) vs. Holy Cross (3-11)
Dates \| Times	Tuesday, March 20, 6:45 p.m.
Location \| Weather	Northborough, Mass. (New England Baseball Complex) 50 Degrees, Partly Cloudy, Chance of Rain: 10%
Series History	Massachusetts leads 38-31=1
Live Statistics	Live Stats
Social Media	Twitter: @UMassBaseball \| @HCrossBaseball
Probable Starters	Massachusetts: TBA Holy Cross: TBA

Batting Practice
- After earning four wins in eight games played during the squad's spring break trip to Florida, UMass returns to the Bay State to take on in-state rival Holy Cross on the road at the New England Baseball Complex at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday evening. UMass last played the Crusaders on March 22, 2016 for the home opener at Earl Lorden Field. The Minutemen jumped out to an early lead, but it was spoiled by a three-run fifth inning for Holy Cross, as UMass fell that day by a score of 6-3.
- UMass leads the all-time series between the two squads, 38-31-1.

Recap in a Minute
- The Minutemen rattled off two victories over the opening weekend of the Delray Beach Invitational over New England foe Maine in Florida, taking a 5-1 decision on Saturday and coming away with a 10-6 win on Sunday. The Minutemen then earned a midweek 9-5 victory over North Dakota State, before falling to Harvard by a score of 8-2. Spring break wrapped up with a series against Bucknell, where the Minutemen dominated the opener before falling in the final two games of the three-game set. That game featured 20 hits in a 17-5 win, the most since the squad collected 24 in the 2011 season vs. Temple. UMass has now won four of its last eight contests.

Scouting Holy Cross
- Holy Cross (3-11) returns to Worcester for its first home contest of the 2017 season after taking one of two against Wagner this past weekend. The Crusaders won the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, while Austin Masel and Cam O'Neill each had multi-hit afternoons en route to the squads 3-2 win.
- The Crusader offense has been led thus far by Anthony Critelli, whose .350 batting average and .500 slugging percentage pace the team in both categories. With 20 hits in just 58 at bats (.345), Austin Masel has proven an equally key part of the lineup.
- George Capen (3-0) tossed the last three innings and struck out five in Saturday's win against Wagner. Capen has earned the win for every Holy Cross victory so far, even though he has not seen a start. He boasts a 1.17 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 15.1 innings pitched.
- Greg DiCenzo is now in his 10th season guiding the Crusaders, during which his squad has made four appearances in the Patriot League championship series. He has also led Holy Cross to at least 20 wins in eight of the last nine seasons.

Getting It Done on The Bump
- Sophomore Justin Lasko has turned in strong performances in his three starts this season, earning the win in his most recent outing against Bucknell. On Thursday, the sophomore picked up his first victory of the year after a 7.1 inning outing allowing just one earned run on eight hits and taking a shutout into the eighth inning. Lasko walked just one batter, while striking out six.

Rookie Leading The Charge
- Northborough, Massachusetts native Nolan Kessinger extended his team-best hitting streak to eight games over the weekend. The Bucknell series saw Kessinger record six hits and a pair of RBI.
- The freshman's weekend featured a single game career-high performances in runs (3) and his high of hits (3) thus far in his young career.
- Kessinger currently leads the Minutemen with a .412 batting average. He is also second on the team in hits with 14 and doubles with four.

Mrowka Off to Hot Start
- Sophomore Cooper Mrowka continues to serve as an integral component in the lineup for the Minutemen, boasting a .366 batting average, starting in all 11 games thus far. Mrowka has knocked in a team leading 11 runs to match his freshman year total of 11 in 35 games. The Cheshire, Connecticut native has eight run scored to his credit already, as well.
- Although his five-game hitting streak was snapped during Saturday's loss against Bucknell, Mrowka had posted 12 hits and 10 RBIs over the previous five contests.

Set in `Stone'
- The winningest head coach in team history, UMass skipper Mike Stone embarks on his 30th season directing the Minutemen baseball program. In the summer of 2016, Stone announced that he would retire from coaching following the 2017 season. During his career in Amherst, Stone has helped UMass to 682 victories with eight Atlantic 10 regular season championships, along with two A-10 postseason titles and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Nearly 40 of his former players have gone on to play professional baseball.

Nine is Fine
- Throughout the 2017 season, the Minutemen will play in nine different states: North Carolina, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, Kentucky, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York.

On Deck
- Following Tuesday's matchup, Massachusetts opens conference play with a three-game series at Atlantic 10 foe George Washington at Barcroft Park in Arlington, Virginia on March 24-26. The three-game series begins on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. start time on Saturday and ends with game three at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Next Tuesday, the Minutemen will play their first home contest at 3 p.m. against Northeastern. UMass then heads to Chestnut Hill to face off again Boston College at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29.

Follow UMass Baseball on Social Media
- Fans can follow the Minutemen on Twitter @UMassBaseball for up to the minute updates, photos, and other news around the team. In addition, fans who use Facebook can visit Facebook.com/UMassBaseball for the latest with the squad.

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Players Mentioned

Nolan Kessinger

Justin Lasko

Cooper Mrowka

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University of Massachusets Athletics