Baseball Concludes Season with Series vs. Davidson

University of Massachusetts Baseball Game Notes
Game 45-47	Massachusetts (14-30, 7-14 A-10) vs. Davidson (25-22, 11-10 A-10)
Date \| Time	Thursday, May 18, 2017 - 12 p.m. (DH) Friday, May 19, 2017 - 12 p.m.
Location \| Weather	Amherst, Mass. (Earl Lorden Field) Thursday: 92 Degrees, Mostly Sunny, Chance of Rain: 0% Friday: 84 Degrees, Isolated Thunderstorms, Chance of Rain: 30%
Series History	Davidson leads 4-1
Game Coverage	Live Stats: SideArm Watch: Atlantic 10 Digital Network
Social Media	Twitter: @UMassBaseball \| @dcbaseball_
Probable Starters	Massachusetts: RHP Justin Lasko \| RHP Ryan Moloney / RHP Kevin Hassett \| RHP Mike Geannelis Davidson: RHP Durin O'Linger \| RHP Josh Smutzer \| LHP Evan Roberts

Batting Practice
- This weekend the regular season comes to a close with an Atlantic 10 series at home against Davidson. The series begins on Thursday at Earl Lorden Field with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. and the series finale is set for 12 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Prior to Friday's game, the squad's senior class will be honored in a pregame ceremony, followed by a recognition for retiring head coach Mike Stone. Ceremonies will begin at 11:30 p.m.
- Game one will mark the sixth meeting between UMass and Davidson. Davidson joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2014 after leaving the Southern Conference and currently leads the series 4-1. The two teams last met on March 26, 2016 when UMass split a doubleheader with the Wildcats. The Minutemen bounced back from a 5-4 11-inning setback in game one by taking game two of the doubleheader at Davidson, 7-1.

Recap in a Minute
- After trailing 5-2 heading into the ninth this past Tuesday, UMass rallied for three runs to force extra innings and walked off with a 6-5 victory over Fairfield in the bottom of the 10^th. The win, which marked UMass head coach Mike Stone's 750^th of his career, moved the Minutemen to 14-30 on the season.
- Freshman Christian Rosati picked up his first career win in the contest and Logan Greene (2-for-4), Brett Evangelista (2-for-5) and Eddy Hart (2-for-2) combined for six of the squad's 10 hits in the contest. Andrew Noonan had the game-winning walk-off RBI single in the 10th.

Scouting Davidson
- Davidson (25-22, 11-10 A-10) was most recently in action on Wednesday, May 10, in a nonconference match-up at Winthrop. In his final home at-bat of his career, senior Tyler Agard delivered in big fashion, pushing a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the 10^th inning to hand Davidson the 7-6 walk-off win over Winthrop.
- With a team-leading 66 hits and 46 runs, senior Will Robertson paces the Wildcats' offense through 47 games thus far with a .338 batting average. Teammate Brian Fortier (.328) has been a powerful force from the plate, with a team-best 14 home runs, 48 RBI and a .640 slugging percentage.
- On the mound, redshirt-senior RHP Durin O-Linger (6-2) has been the most effective starter this season. Over the course of 12 starts, O'Linger holds a 3.26 ERA, in a team-high 77.1 innings pitched, with 70 strikeouts and 18 walks. Senior Westin Whitmire has earned himself the closing role, picking up nine of the teams eleven saves on the season so far.
- Dick Cooke is now in his 27^th season directing the Wildcats baseball program. No other coach in Davidson history has coached as many games as Cooke. During his tenure, Cooke has compiled a record of 522-787-1. He coached in his 1,000th game during the 2009 season and recorded his 500th win with the Wildcats on March 6, 2016 against Lafayette. Ten of Cooke's Davidson players have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft. Cooke is coming off another impressive season as the Wildcats made a historic run in the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship, playing as the first-ever No. 6 seed to compete for the A-10 title in league history.

Number 750 for Stone
Tuesday afternoon's win against marked UMass head coach Mike Stone's 750^th of his career. Stone, already the most winningest head coach in UMass baseball history, now has 696 wins as head coach of the Minutemen, while the other 54 wins were gathered while serving as the head coach at Vermont where Stone got his start in collegiate coaching. Coach Stone will retire at the conclusion of the 2017 season, after serving as the UMass head coach for 30 years, leading the Minutemen to 15 Atlantic 10 Tournament appearances, three Atlantic 10 conference championship titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

Geannelis Goes The Distance … Again
- Senior Mike Geannelis pitched all 9.2 innings for UMass in game three of this past weekend's series at Fordham and took the loss (5-6), allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts. This was Geannelis' fifth straight complete game.
- In game three at Rhode Island, Geannelis, despite suffering the loss, went the distance for the Minutemen. 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. The right-hander became 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 effort, 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.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Casey Aubin

Brett Evangelista

Mike Geannelis

Logan Greene

Eddy Hart

Kevin Hassett

Matt Hosman

Justin Lasko

Bryce Maher

Ryan Moloney

Cooper Mrowka

Andrew Noonan

Dylan Robinson

Christian Rosati

University of Massachusets Athletics