University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
4-8
Holy Cross
4-11
Holy Cross Out-Slugs Baseball, 15-5
March 21, 2017 | Baseball
Holy Cross took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. After a pair of walks to Alex Gionis and Josh Hassell, Austin Masel and Anthony Critelli drove them in with a double and a sacrifice fly, respectively.
UMass cut its deficit in half in the fifth. Junior Brett Evangelista drew a leadoff walk and later scored on an RBI groundout by freshman Nolan Kessinger. The Minutemen then leveled the score at two in their next turn at bat when senior Jon Avallone hit a solo home run to center.
The Crusaders pulled back in front, scoring three in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of home runs from Critelli and Kellen McCormick that gave Holy Cross a 5-2 advantage.
UMass countered with three of its own in the seventh to pull even with the Crusaders once more. Sophomore Ryan Lever led off with a home run to left and senior Dylan Morris' two-run single tied the score at five.
However, Holy Cross went on to plate 10 runs on seven hits in the bottom of the eighth to break the game open. The Crusaders hit three home runs in the inning, including a three-run shot by Masel.
Casey Aubin took the loss (0-1) for the Minutemen, letting up five runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts over two innings of relief. Michael Spada picked up the win (1-0) out of the bullpen for Holy Cross, limiting UMass to one hit with two walks and two strikeouts over 1.1 innings of work.
Avallone (2-for-6), Lever (2-for-3) and Morris (2-for-5) combined for six of the Minutemen's nine hits on the evening.
UMass will be back in action on Friday, March 24, when the squad will open Atlantic 10 play at George Washington at 3 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: Spada (1-0)
L: Aubin, Casey (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Linnane, Keith 1
HR: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Lever, Ryan 1
RBI: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Lever, Ryan 1 ; Kessinger, Nolan 1 ; Morris, Dylan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Avallone, Jon 1 ; Evangelista, Brett 1 ; Lever, Ryan 1 ; Geannelis, Mike 1 ; Mrowka, Cooper 1
SB: Hart, Eddy 1
HBP: Evangelista, Brett 1 ; Bare, Matt 1
Batting:
2B: Masel 1 ; Rinaldi 1
HR: Masel 1 ; Critelli 1 ; O'Neill 2 ; McCormick 1
RBI: Hassell 2 ; Masel 4 ; Critelli 2 ; O'Neill 3 ; McCormick 2 ; Rinaldi 2
SF: Critelli 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hassell 2 ; Masel 1 ; Critelli 2 ; O'Neill 2 ; Schlich 2 ; McCormick 1 ; Enders 1 ; Cloney 1 ; Rinaldi 1 ; Gionis 1 ; Russo 1
CS: McCormick 1
