Baseball Cruises Past Fairfield, 12-5

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – University of Massachusetts baseball returned to the win column in a dominant fashion against Fairfield, taking a 12-5 victory at Cook Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Minutemen improve to 10-18 on the season, while Fairfield dropped to 13-17 overall.

Justin Masteralexis (2-1) recorded his fifth career start for Massachusetts and pitched a career-high seven scoreless innings before being relieved in the eighth. The southpaw finished with only six hits allowed and four walks, while dealing four strikeouts on the day to receive the winning decision.

Jack Beverly, Braden Sullivan and Marc Willi registered a home run in the contest, as Beverly also added a double to his stat sheet. Kevin Skagerlind went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, followed by Mike Gervasi, Beverly, Sullivan and Kyle Hoog with two hits apiece, including a double from Hoog. Nine Minutemen scored a run on the afternoon with Beverly, Willi and Sullivan plating two each. Sullivan led with a team-best three RBI. Gervasi and Beverly both had two RBI, and Skagerlind, Austin Burgess, Willi and Jack Peters all drove in one run.

UMass struck first in the third, as Burgess led with a walk, before advancing to second on a ground out. Burgess put himself within scoring position on a wild pitch, while Beverly was at the plate. Beverly cranked a shot over the left field fence for his fourth home run of the season to help the Minutemen to a 2-0 lead.

Massachusetts extended its lead with a five-run fifth inning. Skagerlind took his place on first after being hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball. Gervasi singled through the right side, driving home Skagerlind to make it a 3-0 game. Beverly followed with a double down the left field line, in which Fairfield's left field bobbled the ball, giving Gervasi the opportunity to touch home plate. After Willi was walked, Sullivan blasted a three-run shot over the left field wall, recording his third long ball of the year to pull UMass ahead, 7-0.

The seventh frame saw four runs scored by the Minutemen. Back-to-back RBI singles from Peters and Skagerlind scored Sullivan and Hoog in the top of the seventh to make it a 9-0 contest. Burgess hit a sacrifice fly as Jake Given tagged up from third and ran home to tack on another run, before an RBI single from Gervasi brought Peters home to lead, 11-0.

Willi led off the eighth with a first pitch solo homer to give the Minutemen a 12-0 lead, marking his second of the year. Fairfield got on the board in the final frame, tallying five runs, but Massachusetts went on to win, 12-5.

Leif Bigelow relieved Masteralexis in the eighth, walking two and striking out one, with Andrew Houghton and Dylan Terwilliger combining to close out the ninth. Kyle Lesler (0-2) had the loss for the Stags, pitching two complete innings with two hits, three walks and one strikeout.

Massachusetts returns to Earl Lorden Field for a three-game series against Fordham on Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14. Friday's game begins at 3 p.m., before a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and a 12 p.m. start on Sunday. Both Friday and Sunday's contests will be streamed on ESPN+.

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

Kevin Skagerlind

Mike Gervasi

Jack Beverly

Braden Sullivan

Players Mentioned

Jack Beverly

Leif Bigelow

Austin Burgess

Mike Gervasi

Jake Given

Kyle Hoog

Andrew Houghton

Justin Masteralexis

Jack Peters

Kevin Skagerlind

Braden Sullivan

Dylan Terwilliger

Marc Willi

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics