Baseball Faces In-State Rivals Northeastern and BC Next

University of Massachusetts Baseball Game Notes
Games 16-17	Massachusetts (4-7) vs. Northeastern (8-13)/ at Boston College (7-14)
Dates \| Times	Tuesday, March 25, 3:00 p.m. \| Wednesday, March 26, 3:00 p.m.
Locations \| Weather	Amherst, Mass. (Earl Lorden Field) 58 Degrees, Light Rain/Fog, Chance of Rain: 70% Chestnut Hill, Mass. (Pellagrini Diamond at Shea Field) 50 Degrees, AM Clouds/PM Sun, Chance of Rain: 20%
Series History	vs. Northeastern: series tied 44-44 \| vs. Boston College: UMass leads 35-26
Game Coverage	Live Stats: vs. Northeastern \| at Boston College Video Stream: vs. Northeastern
Social Media	Twitter: @UMassBaseball \| @GoNUbaseball \| @BCBirdBall
Probable Starters	Massachusetts: TBA Northeastern: TBA Boston College: TBA

Batting Practice
- After opening Atlantic 10 play this past weekend at George Washington, the Massachusetts baseball team begins a seven-game break from conference action. The Minutemen will first play their season home opener at Earl Lorden Field on Tuesday afternoon against Northeastern, before they trek east on the Massachusetts Turnpike to face ACC foe Boston College on Wednesday afternoon.
- The Minutemen picked up a win over Northeastern in the teams' most recent meeting, which came at Friedman Diamond last season. UMass' pitching staff combined for eight strikeouts on the mound and held off multiple Northeastern rallies as the Minutemen earned a 3-2 victory over the Huskies.
- UMass last squared off with BC in Amherst on March 30, 2015. 2016 team MVP John Jennings had a home run and two RBI and current co-captain Dylan Morris had a solo shot of his own, but Boston College combined for five runs over the first two innings as University of Massachusetts baseball fell to the Eagles, 11-5.

Recap in a Minute
- After falling to George Washington on Friday evening by a score of 10-2 in the A-10 opener, Massachusetts earned wins on Saturday and Sunday against the Colonials to take the series two games to one.
- Saturday was a close fought game, but UMass was able to outlast the George Washington to earn a 2-1 win. Freshman LHP Brooks Knapek limited George Washington to one run on seven hits with five walks and six strikeouts over seven innings en route to the win (2-1).
- Brett Evangelista (2-for-5), Cooper Mrowka (2-for-4) and Alec Norton (2-for-2) combined for six of UMass' nine hits on the afternoon. Nolan Kessinger and Norton logged the squads' RBIs.
- The Minutemen followed up their 2-1 victory with a 10-4 win on Sunday, propelled by an offensive outburst by putting up multiple runs in three of their final four turns at bat.
- UMass logged six runs in the top of the ninth inning to clinch the series finale against GW. Five Minutemen recorded a hit in the game, as the Minutemen scored 10 runs on six hits and had the help of four George Washington errors in the field to seal the win.
- Senior Mike Geannelis picked up the victory (2-2) in his start for the Minutemen, working 6.1 innings and allowing three runs on 10 hits with two walks and four strikeouts. In addition, Senior Dylan Morris recorded his 100^th career hit, which broke up a perfect game for GW in the sixth.

Scouting Northeastern
- Like UMass, Northeastern (8-13, 1-2 CAA) opened its conference schedule this past weekend and took the opener of its series at CAA opponent Elon.
- Friday's victory saw productive Husky bats lead the way, as the team pounded out 10 hits and nine runs en route to a 9-2 win over the Phoenix. Six different players had the Northeastern hits, while Mike Fitzgerald fanned five in 6.1 innings pitched to post his second win on the bump in 2017.
- Junior Max Burt has been a leader of the NU offense, batting .375 after starting all 21 contests. With 10 doubles, he leads the team in the category. He is trailed closely by Cam Hanley (.368) who leads the Huskies in hits (32) and RBI (18).
- Brian Rodriguez (2-1) has paced the Husky pitching staff, posting a 0.66 ERA through his 10 appearances over 13.2 innings. From the starting position, Brian Christian (2-0) ties the team lead with 31 strikeouts in 29.0 innings pitched over the course of seven appearances and three starts.
- Northeastern alum Mike Glavine is now in his third season at the helm of the NU baseball team after serving the program for eight seasons in an assistant capacity. During his second season at the helm in 2016, Glavine led Northeastern to its fifth 30-win campaign (31) in program history, improving his first-season win total by six victories.

Scouting Boston College
- Boston College (7-14, 1-8 ACC) last played on Sun., Mar. 26, falling to Clemson 2-0 in the squad's eighth loss in their last nine contests.
- Boston College has struggles from the plate with a team average of .261, compared to a .341 opponent average. With an average of .267, senior Gian Martellini has lead the team's offensive production, with a team-best slugging percentage of.347 and 12 RBI that tie for the team lead.
- On the bump, BC sophomore Jacob Stevens sits at 2-2 through six starts, allowing just 12 earned runs over 34.2 innings. The bullpen is highlighted by junior Carmen Giampetruzzi (1-1), who has made six appearances and boasts a 2.16 ERA.
- Head coach and BC alum Mike Gambino is now in his seventh campaign as Eagles skipper. In 2016, he brought the Eagles to the program's first NCAA Tournament in seven years and the team's third-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Championship appearance. Gambino guided the 2016 Eagles to 35 overall wins, the most since 2005, tying for the second most in program history. They also tallied 13 ACC wins, the most since 2010, while their six conference series victories set a school record.

Rookie Leading The Charge
- Freshman outfielder/left-handed pitcher Nolan Kessinger was named last weeks Co-Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week.
- The Northborough, Massachusetts native extended his team-best hitting streak to twelve games against George Washington on Sunday. This past weekend during the George Washington series saw Kessinger record five hits, four RBI and a pair of runs. He now has a hit in 13 of his 14 collegiate games.
- This past weekend featured the freshman's single game career-high performances in runs (3, third time) and his high in RBI (2) thus far in his young career.
- Kessinger currently leads the Minutemen with a .408 batting average. He also has the team lead with 20 hits and is second on the roster in RBI (12) and doubles (5).

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 688 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
- After Wednesday's matchup with Boston College, Massachusetts has one rest day before they head down to Morehead, Kentucky for a weekend series at Morehead State. Games are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and concludes at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The team then returns to the northeast to take on Siena at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4, to Cambridge, Massachusetts to square off against Harvard in the first round of the Beanpot on Wednesday, April 5 at 3 p.m.

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

Brett Evangelista

Mike Geannelis

Nolan Kessinger

Brooks Knapek

Dylan Morris

Cooper Mrowka

Alec Norton

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics