Road Swing Begins Friday at George Mason

University of Massachusetts Baseball Game Notes
Games 31-33 Date \| Time	Massachusetts at George Mason Fri., April 27-Sun., April 29 \| 3 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m.
Location	Fairfax, Va. (Spuhler Field) \| Directions
Series History	Massachusetts leads, 6-4
Live Video	Atlantic 10 Network
Live Statistics	Sidearm Stats
Twitter	@UMassBaseball \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Baseball \| UMass Athletics
Season Statistics	Massachusetts \| George Mason

Batting Practice
University of Massachusetts baseball hits the home stretch of April this week beginning a four-game run away from Earl Lorden Field, opening the trip at Atlantic 10 rival George Mason. Running from Fri., April 27 through Sun., April 29, first pitch in the three-game series is slated for 3 p.m., 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.

Wednesday's Game at Quinnipiac Cancelled
UMass' Wed., April 25 non-conference tilt at Quinnipiac has been cancelled due to inclement weather. The Minutemen had been scheduled to visit the Bobcats at 3 p.m. at the QU Baseball Field. Mother Nature has not been particularly kind to UMass in 2018–Wednesday's contest was the seventh to either be postponed or cancelled in part as a result of weather.

Recap In A Minute
Three one-run games decided the outcome of UMass' series with La Salle this past weekend at Earl Lorden Field. After the Minutemen claimed a 3-2 walk-off on Fri., April 20, the Explorers countered with respective 5-4 and 4-3 decisions in the final two contests despite valiant ninth inning comeback efforts by UMass. Each of the two setbacks included late offensive surges by La Salle as the squad pushed three runs across in the final innings of both games.

Scouting George Mason
Mason heads into the week tied with Fordham for fifth in the Atlantic 10 (7-5) after VCU outlasted the Patriots 1-0 in 12 innings on Sun., April 22 to take that series' rubber game. Jared DiCesare was outstanding on the mound, going 10 innings in his start and retiring the final 22 batters he faced.

Alejandro Aponte is batting .275 and has hit safely in each of Mason's last six games. Logan Driscoll's .377 average leads the team by over 50 points and sits ahead of the entire A-10. Both Driscoll along with Trevor Kelly have knocked in 30 runs. Zach Mort dealt seven innings of two-run ball last Friday to pick up the win; his 2.36 ERA leads all starters.

Last Time Against The Patriots
UMass and George Mason have not met since the Minutemen swept a three-game set at Earl Lorden Field to close out the 2016 regular season. Cooper Mrowka floated a walk-off single to plate Brett Evangelista in the series opener on May 19, then the home squad posted a second 2-1 victory in the middle matchup with Justin Lasko pocketing the win on the mound.

In the series and season finale, Brandon Walsh tossed eight innings of two-run ball in the final start of his career, while Kevin Lacy picked up the save in a 4-2 result. John Jennings clubbed a two-run home run in the third before the Minutemen added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth to secure the sweep.

Notes From The Rubber
Justin Lasko tossed his second career complete game on Fri., April 20 in UMass' walk-off win over La Salle, going at least eight innings for the third time in his last four starts. Lasko, who allowed just two runs, lowered his ERA to 2.98 and earned his third victory of the season.

The junior and Stratford, Connecticut product had two different stints in the Summer of 2017 with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He went 2-0 in his four starts, tossing 19.1 innings and stringing together a 2.79 ERA against some of the nation's top bats.

Putting In Your 'Hart' And Soul
Dating back to the Richmond finale on Sun., March 25, Eddy Hart has hit safely in 16 of UMass' last 18 games. Originally from Middleboro, Massachusetts, that stretch includes Hart's first three home runs of his career as well as a Fri., April 13 performance against Rhode Island in which he finished just a triple short of the cycle.

Hart (9) and Ryan Lever (14) boast the longest hitting streaks amongst the Minutemen thus far in 2018.

Excuse Me Your Honor, [Seven] Youths
To this point in 2018, seven different freshmen have seen game action for the Minutemen. On the mound, the class has in part been highlighted by Natick, Massachusetts native Sean Harney. Harney has made three starts on the season and posted an ERA of 3.34 over 32.1 innings pitched.

Despite receiving no-decisions in his most recent two starts, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Rhode Island on Sat., April 14. The following Saturday against La Salle (April 21), Harney dealt 6.2 innings of two-run ball while tying his single-game career high with six strikeouts.

Call Them The Comeback Kids
In a sweep of Bucknell from March 12-14, Massachusetts was forced to come from behind in each of the three matchups. The last time the Minutemen eliminated consecutive deficits en route to a three-game series sweep was on May 8 and May 9, 2001, when UMass claimed both doubleheader tilts against Saint Joseph's (13-8 and 9-5) before posting an 11-9 triumph to close the weekend.

That year the Maroon and White won the Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship after going 16-6 in the league, ultimately finishing the campaign with an overall record of 27-19.

Not To Be Confused With Brothers Osborne
The Minuteman pitching staff features one set of twin brothers in sophomores Brooks Knapek and Carter Knapek. The duo threw back-to-back in a win over Central Connecticut on Sun., March 11, with Brooks earning the win after four no-hit innings of relief, during which he struck In tout four and surrendered just one walk. Carter then entered for the ninth and collected his first career save. That capped a strong day on the mound for the Minutemen as Justin Lasko started on the hill, striking out five over his four innings of work.

Welcome Back, Coach
A former UMass infielder and captain, head coach Matt Reynolds returns to the Pioneer Valley after three years (2014-17) guiding Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland and seven seasons as an assistant coach at Navy (2007-14).

Prior to Navy, Reynolds served as a graduate assistant under Mike Stone at UMass for three seasons (2005-07). He played his final two collegiate seasons in Amherst after transferring from the University of Maine. He earned Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team honors in 2003 and was named the Minutemen's Most Valuable Player the following year.

On Deck
UMass will bookend the other side of the road trip in Connecticut, meeting Hartford on Tues., May 1 at 7 p.m. from Dunkin' Donuts Park.

Follow UMass Baseball
Follow UMass baseball on Twitter (@UMassBaseball), Instagram (UMassBaseball) and Facebook (UMass Baseball) for the latest news and updates around the team.

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Players Mentioned

Brett Evangelista

Sean Harney

Eddy Hart

Brooks Knapek

Carter Knapek

Justin Lasko

Ryan Lever

Cooper Mrowka

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