University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
4-8
Kennesaw State
11-9
Late Surge Lifts Kennesaw State Over Minutemen in Series Finale
March 17, 2019 | Baseball
Smith goes 2-for-3 with three RBI in Sunday’s setback
Smith drove in a team-high three RBIs and junior Eddy Hart knocked in a pair on the day for the Minutemen (4-8). Redshirt freshman Collin Shapiro singled and scored a run to extend his reached base streak to 12 games, trailed by Hart and Lever now at 11 consecutive contests.
UMass erased an Owls' three-run homer in the first inning with a single tally in the second and five more in the third. Smith laced a single up the middle in the top of the second to score junior Nolan Kessinger and get the Minutemen on the board, before the squad sent nine men to bat in the third.
That inning, Hart evened the score at three-apiece with a two-run double down the right field line plating senior Logan Greene and redshirt sophomore Anthony Videtto. Two batters later, Lever gave Massachusetts its first lead of the day at 4-3, bringing Hart home on a base hit to right. After a passed ball put Lever and senior Alec Norton in scoring position, Smith capitalized with a two-run base hit that sent Lever and Norton home.
Kennesaw State (11-9) claimed two of those runs back in its half of the third, but Kessinger swelled the UMass advantage back to 7-5 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
That score remained until the last of the sixth, when KSU took advantage of a defensive miscue and pushed across five runs in the frame, all unearned. The Owls then added one apiece in the seventh and eighth innings.
For Kennesaw State, Rhian Mann (1-0) picked up the win out of the bullpen with 1.2 innings of work, posting two strikeouts and two walks. Sophomore Sean Harney (0-2) took the loss for the Minutemen after a 5.2 inning start, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and three walks while logging four strikeouts.
Massachusetts resumes play with a 5 p.m. game against Holy Cross on Tues., March 19. Previously scheduled to be played at Holy Cross, that game will now be played in Northborough, Massachusetts at the New England Baseball Complex.
For the latest news and updates around UMass baseball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @UMassBaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mayhall, Cooper (1-1)
L: Harney, Sean (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Hart, Eddy 1
RBI: Hart, Eddy 2 ; Kessinger, Nolan 1 ; Lever, Ryan 1 ; Smith, Connor 3
SF: Kessinger, Nolan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shapiro, Collin 1 ; Greene, Logan 1 ; Videtto, Anthony 1 ; Hart, Eddy 1 ; Kessinger, Nolan 1 ; Lever, Ryan 1 ; Norton, Alec 1
SB: Lever, Ryan 1
HBP: Lever, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Norman, Terence 1 ; Smith, Jaylen 1 ; Carballo, Alex 2
HR: Hodges, Garrett 2
RBI: Chabut, David 1 ; Franklin, Jake 1 ; Norman, Terence 2 ; Hodges, Garrett 5 ; Simon, Tyler 1 ; Smith, Jaylen 1 ; Carballo, Alex 2
SF: Franklin, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chabut, David 1 ; Franklin, Jake 1 ; Norman, Terence 3 ; Hodges, Garrett 2 ; Tolve, Tyler 2 ; Smith, Jaylen 1 ; Carballo, Alex 1 ; Seres, Daniel 1
SB: Smith, Jaylen 1
CS: Simon, Tyler 1
HBP: Chabut, David 1
