Baseball Heads to Fordham for Final Road Series

University of Massachusetts Baseball Game Notes
Games 41-43	Massachusetts (12-28, 6-12 A-10) at Fordham (22-22, 7-10 A-10)
Dates \| Times	Friday, May 12 - Saturday, May 14 \| 3 p.m. (DH) / 2 p.m.
Location \| Weather	Bronx, New York (Houlihan Park) Friday: 58 Degrees, Mostly Cloudy, Chance of Rain: 10% Saturday: 53 Degrees, Rain, Chance of Rain: 100%
Series History	Massachusetts leads 30-26-1
Game Coverage	Live Stats: SideArm Watch: Friday \| Saturday
Social Media	Twitter: @UMassBaseball \| @FordhamBaseball
Probable Starters	Massachusetts: RHP Justin Lasko \| RHP Ryan Moloney \| RHP Mike Geannelis Fordham: RHP Jimmy Murphy \| RHP Reiss Knehr \| RHP Brandon Martin

Batting Practice
- This weekend Massachusetts baseball travels to Bronx, New York for its final weekend series on the road of the 2017 season, squaring off against Fordham in an Atlantic 10 three-game conference series. A doubleheader will start the series on Friday, at 3 p.m. on. Game three is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, though could get pushed back to Sunday due to rain in the forecast.
- Game one will mark the 58^th meeting between UMass and Fordham. UMass currently leads the series 30-26-1. The two teams last met on April 30, 2016 when UMass defeated the Rams by a score of 5-0 in a series finale, taking two out of the three games in the series.

Recap in a Minute
- The Minutemen traveled to Rhode Island this past weekend, where the squad was swept by the Rams in a three-game set.
- The weekend was highlighted by sophomore Cooper Mrowka who homered to center in the top of the fourth to give UMass an early 1-0 lead in game three. Mrowka is now tied for the team lead in home runs with four.

Scouting Fordham
- Fordham (22-22, 7-10 A-10) was most recently in action this past weekend, sweeping LIU Brooklyn in a non-conference series.
- With five home runs and 20 RBI, senior Luke Stampfl leads the Rams offense through there 44 games so far with a .331 batting average. Teammate Matthew Kozuch (.304) paces the squad with 49 hits and 14 doubles, as the only Fordham player to start all 44 games this season.
- On the mound, graduate student RHP Jimmy Murphy (5-6) has been the most effective pitcher from the starting position this season. Over the course of 11 starts, Murphy holds a 2.85 ERA, in a team-high 75.2 innings pitched, with 72 strikeouts and 21 walks. Freshman Alvin Melendez (0.44) has earned himself the closing role, picking up five saves on the season so far.
- Kevin Leighton is now in his sixth season directing the Rams baseball program. In 2015, Leighton saw the Rams make their second straight appearance in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Additionally, his pitching staff broke the team record for strikeouts in a season with 392, surpassing the 1999 mark of 387, while the Rams led the Atlantic 10 in stolen bases (97) and stolen bases per game (1.80) for the second straight year and ranked in the top 20 nationally in both categories.

Geannelis Goes The Distance … Again
- In game two of this past weekend's series at Rhode Island senior Mike Geannelis, despite suffering the loss, threw his fourth straight complete game. A home run in the seventh inning for URI snapped a streak of 27 straight shutout innings for Geannelis.
- In his previous start against Dayton, Geannelis tossed a complete game shutout for the win, allowing just three hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. This was Geannelis' second straight shutout. The right-hander is the first UMass hurler to toss consecutive shutouts since Matt Torra did so in a pair of seven-inning contests in 2005 against St. Bonaventure and Temple.
- On April 23, against at La Salle, Geannelis threw a complete game shutout in a winning efford, scattering five hits and walking just one while tying a career high with nine strikeouts.
- On April 14, he also threw a complete game to pick up the win against Saint Louis as he allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Getting It Done In The Classroom
- Eight members of the UMass baseball team were recognized last month for their academic success with placement on the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll. In total, UMass as an institution had 165 student-athletes earn a spot on the list.
- Casey Aubin, Brett Evangelista, Kevin Hassett, Matt Hosman, Justin Lasko, Bryce Maher, Cooper Mrowka and Dylan Robinson, garnered the laurels for UMass baseball.

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. After this trip, UMass will have played in all nine states.

On Deck
- On Tuesday, UMass returns home to Earl Lorden Field for the last four regular season games, with a non-conference matchup against Fairfield at 3 p.m. The regular season will then come to a close with an Atlantic 10 series against Davidson. The series begins on Thursday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. and the series finale is set for 12 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

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

Casey Aubin

Brett Evangelista

Mike Geannelis

Kevin Hassett

Matt Hosman

Justin Lasko

Bryce Maher

Ryan Moloney

Cooper Mrowka

Dylan Robinson

University of Massachusets Athletics