University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
4-10, 0-1
VCU
16-6, 1-0
Minutemen Fall at VCU, 5-2
March 22, 2019 | Baseball
Kessinger finishes 2-for-4 with RBI in series-opening setback
VCU went ahead 1-0 in its half of the first inning when Paul Witt grounded out to score Hogan Brown.
UMass bounced back with a two-spot in the top of the third. The Minutemen tied the score at one-all when redshirt sophomore Anthony Videtto sent a grounder to the left side with sophomore Luke Oliphant at third base. Oliphant darted down the line and beat out a play at the plate to even things up. Two batters later, junior Nolan Kessinger laced a base hit up the middle that brought in redshirt freshman Collin Shapiro.
The Rams would take the lead back in the bottom of the fourth with two runs and add on insurance with two more in the last of the eighth.
Evan Chenier (4-0) picked up the win for VCU out of the bullpen in a three-inning relief appearance. Senior Justin Lasko (1-2) was on the losing end following a seven-inning start in which he was responsible for two earned run on six hits and four walks while also recording four strikeouts.
In spite of the loss, Shapiro extended his reached base streak to a team-best 14 games while junior Eddy Hart and senior Ryan Lever extended their respective marks to 13 straight contests.
The teams return to action for the middle game of their series on Sat., March 23 with first pitch at 2 p.m.
For the latest news and updates around UMass baseball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @UMassBaseball.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: CHENIER, Evan (4-0)
L: Lasko, Justin (1-2)
S: RYAN, Sam (2)
Batting:
RBI: Videtto, Anthony 1 ; Kessinger, Nolan 1
SH: Greene, Logan 1 ; Lever, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Oliphant, Luke 1 ; Shapiro, Collin 1
SB: Oliphant, Luke 1 ; Hart, Eddy 1 ; Kessinger, Nolan 1
HBP: Oliphant, Luke 1
Batting:
2B: BROWN, Hogan 1 ; CHING, Zac 1 ; WITT, Paul 1 ; HIBBITS, Liam 1 ; SANCHEZ, Tomas 1
RBI: WITT, Paul 1 ; VAY, Hunter 1
SH: HEISLER, Noah 1 ; SIMON, Josh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BROWN, Hogan 1 ; WITT, Paul 1 ; PUGLIELLI, Andrew 1 ; CARPENTER, Steven 1 ; VAY, Hunter 1
SB: PUGLIELLI, Andrew 1
HBP: NORWOOD, Brett 1
