Massachusetts Baseball Faces #3 Dayton In A-10 Championship Opener

University of Massachusetts Baseball Game Notes
Atlantic 10 Championships (Game One)	No. 6 Massachusetts (23-27, 13-11 Atlantic 10) vs. No. 3 Dayton (32-20, 14-9 Atlantic 10)
Date // Time	Tuesday, May 21 // 7 p.m.
Location	Tysons, Va. // Capital One Park
Atlantic 10 Tournament History	Overall: 26-28 Against Dayton: 0-1 Three Championship Titles \| 17 Atlantic 10 Championship Appearances \| Last Appearance - 2012
Series History	Dayton, 26-21 Last Meeting: Massachusetts, 13 (vs) Dayton, 6 \| May 19, 2023
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Stream	ESPN+
Twitter	@UMassBaseball \| @UMassAthletics \| @CoachReynolds25
Instagram	UMass Baseball \| UMass Athletics

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Setting the Scene
The No. 6 University of Massachusetts baseball team heads to Tysons, Virginia, to compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships for the first time in 12 years. The Minutemen take on No. 3 Dayton on Tuesday, May 21, at 7 p.m. at Capital One Park for the opening round. The matchup will be streamed on ESPN+.

UMass finished the regular season with a 24-27 overall record and a 13-11 (.542) record in the A-10 Conference, marking the first time since 2015 the Minutemen have completed league play with at or above .500, going 12-12 that year.

Dayton capped off the regular season with an overall record of 32-20, including a 14-9 league record. The Flyers are coming off a 2-1 series loss to Rhode Island, winning game three of the series, 5-3.

Recap in a Minute
UMass earned its fourth A-10 series victory after taking game two and three of its three-game weekend series against Saint Louis. The Minutemen shut out the Billikens, 6-0, in game two, before winning 5-2 in the series finale on Saturday.

Massachusetts offense was off to a quick start in game two, as Kevin Skagerlind and Mike Gervasi had two hits each, with Austin Burgess, Carter Hanson, Matt Travisano and Jack Beverly totaling one apiece. Skagerlind led the team with three runs, while Gervasi had a team-best two RBI on the day. Hanson, Beverly and Sullivan all recorded one RBI.

Justin Masteralexis received the win for the Minutemen, tossing seven complete innings and allowing only two hits, two walks and dealing five strikeouts on the day.

In game three, Braden Sullivan led the way, going 3-for-4 on the day, including a double, with two runs and an RBI. Skagerlind, Gervasi and Travisano tallied two hits apiece, as Travisano contributed two runs of his own. In addition to Sullivan, Beverly also recorded a double, while Skagerlind, Burgess, Gervasi and Michael Toth totaled one RBI each.

Robbie O'Connor picked up the win for the Minutemen, allowing only two runs, four hits, a walk and striking out three in seven complete innings of work. Andrew Middleton earned his third save of the year, giving up only two hits and dealing three strikeouts of his own.

Minutemen In The A-10 Tournament
Massachusetts returns to the A-10 Championships for the first time since 2012, making its 17th appearance. The Minutemen hold a 26-28 all-time record in the A-10 Tournament and have won the title three times, last in 1996.

UMass and Dayton will meet for only the second time in the A-10 Tournament on Tuesday, with the Flyers holding a 1-0 record. The programs met on May 21, 2009, in Dayton, Ohio, with Dayton coming out on top, 9-5.

All-Time vs. Dayton
Overall, the Minutemen and Flyers will meet for the 48th time in program history, as Dayton holds a 26-21 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams first met for a three-game series on April 6, 1997, with UMass picking up a 14-6 triumph. Massachusetts and Dayton for three in 2023 with Dayton winning the series, 2-1. The Minutemen ended the season with a 13-6 victory over the Flyers in the season finale last season.

It's Going, Going, And It's Gone
Massachusetts has tallied 54 home runs in 51 games played from 11 Minutemen. Gervasi leads the team with 14, followed by Carter Hanson with eight. Jack Beverly and Burgess have six on the season, while Braden Sullivan and Marc Willi have five and four on the year, respectively. Toth, Skagerlind and Tichy all registered three on the season. Kyle Hoog and Justin Blumenthal both have one on the season.

Gervasi registered his first long ball of the year in the first game of the season against Bucknell, before hitting his second and third in back-to-back games. He had his second homer in game three of the Bucknell series, before hitting his third in game one at No. 13 Virginia. Hanson had a home run as well in game one of the Bucknell series and tallied his second in the game two 10-5 win at No. 13 Virginia. Tichy recorded his lone homer in the final game against Bucknell.

Burgess had his first home run of the year in game two at Elon, while Beverly and Blumenthal hit their first in game three at Elon. Beverly's homer marked the first of his career. Sullivan recorded his first career grand slam, marking his first collegiate home run, at UMES. Willi registered his first career home run in the Beanpot Consolation against Harvard, before recording the second of his career in the next game at Fairfield.

Hoog and Toth both clubbed their first home runs of the year against Sacred Heart. Hoog's homer was his first as a Minuteman and second of his career, with Toth's being the second of his career. Skagerlind recorded his first long ball of the season in game three of the Saint Joseph's series, helping the Minutemen to complete the sweep.

On A Roll…
Thirteen Minutemen are riding a current hitting streak, so far this season. Gervasi leads with eight games, followed by Travisano and Jake Given with seven and five, respectively. Hanson and Tichy are on a three-game streak, while Beverly, Skagerlind, Burgess and Zack Zaetta are on a two-game hit streak. Four players are on a one-game hitting streak, currently. Travisano held the team's longest streak of 13 games before it came to an end.

Skagerlind leads the team with the longest active reached base streak of 21, followed by Hanson with 15. Gervasi and Travisano have a reached base streak of eight and seven, respectively, while Given follows with five. Bevelry is on a four-game streak and Tichy is on a three-game reached base streak. Burgess, Toth and Zaetta have reached base twice, as Sullivan, Sma Hill and Jake Swerdloff have a reached base streak of one. Skagerlind held the longest streak for the Minutemen with a 25-reached base streak, before it came to an end.

[Multi]ple Games
In 51 games, UMass has a strong showing with multi-hit games, as the Minutemen have run their total of multi-hit performances to 123. Travisano leads the production with 18, including a four-hit game, while Skagerlind has 17 games. Beverly, Burgess and Gervasi follow with 15 each, which includes six three-hit games for Burgess. Hanson follows with 10 and Toth totaled eight, with one four-hit and three-hit performance for both Minutemen. Sullivan is on a seven-game streak each, putting together a four-hit performance in one contest, followed closely by Willi with five games. Given has three multi-hit games, including a three-hit performance. Four Minutemen totaled two multi-hit games, while Zaetta and Sam Hill are on a one-game streak, as Zaetta put together a three-hit game of his own.

Massachusetts also contributed a total of 74 multi-RBI games, led by Hanson and Gervasi with 13, each including a five-RBI contest for Hanson, marking the third Minuteman to accomplish five-plus RBIs in a game this season. Gervasi totaled two four-RBI games, as well. Beverly and Burgess follow behind with 10 each, with Burgess having five-plus RBI in one contest, as he became the second Minutemen to have five or more RBI in a contest this year. Sullivan and Toth have six multi-RBI games, as Sullivan recorded the team's first five-plus RBI contest this season. Travisano and Willi have had four multi-RBI games, while Tichy and Skagerlind have had three and two, respectively, as Skagerlind had four RBI in one contest. Peters, Zaetta and Jake Given have one multi-RBI game, with Peters and Jake Given registering three RBI in one game each.

A-10 Weekly Honors
Three Minutemen have garnered Atlantic 10 weekly awards this season. Sullivan grabbed the first accolade of the year after earning A-10 Rookie of the Week on March 26, before Hanson collected A-10 Player of the Week on April 29. Robbie O'Connor tabbed A-10 Pitcher of the Week on May 6. It marked the first weekly honors of their careers.

O'Connor is the first Minuteman to collect the Pitcher of the Week award since Justin Lasko achieved the feat in March of 2019. It also marks the first time the program has had an A-10 Pitcher, Player and Rookie of the Week in one season since 2012.

Sullivan earned a .600 batting average, a .625 on-base percentage and a 1.067 slugging percentage. Sullivan totaled nine hits, including two home runs and a double, five runs, eight RBI and a stolen base on the week. In the 12-5 win at UMES, the Taunton, Massachusetts, native recorded a career-high four hits, with his first career grand slam, while adding a career-best five RBI, two runs a one stolen base. During the Seton Hall series, the freshman tallied two hits, which included his second homer of the season, two RBI and a run in the game one of Sunday's doubleheader. The series finale against Seton Hall saw Sullivan register three hits, including a double, two runs and an RBI.

Hanson had a .450 batting percentage, a .435 on base percentage and a .800 slugging percentage. He strung together nine hits, including two home runs and a double, totaled five runs and added 12 RBI in 20 at bats on the week. At UConn, he had one hit, which was a home run, with a run and two RBI on the night. In the 15-4 win at Siena, the junior contributed two hits, including a double, and an RBI. In game one of the Saint Joseph's series, Hanson went 3-for-4 with his seventh homer of the year, while driving in a career-best five runs and scoring two runs of his own. Game two saw one hit, a run and two RBI from Hanson, while registering two hits, one run and two RBI in the series finale against SJU.

O'Connor posted a 1.00 ERA after tossing a complete game, receiving the winning decision. It marked his second win of the season and second complete game of the year. In the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday against St. Bonaventure, O'Connor allowed only one run on four hits, no walks and struck out three in the 4-1 win.
In the field, Hanson tallied 14 putouts and two assists, with no errors.

Career Stats
Reynolds collected his 100th career win on Saturday, April 27, in a 7-6 triumph over Saint Joseph's. Reynolds ranks fourth in the all-time coaching records with an overall record of 105-180-1, sitting behind Mike Stone (697-695-3; 1988-2017), Dick Bergquist (392-321-5; 1967-87) and Earl E. Lorden (189-147-3; 1948-66), respectively.

Skagerlind became the all-time leader in career hit-by-pitch on Saturday, May 11, in game two of the George Washington series. He recorded his 34th career hit-by-pitch to surpass former Minuteman Peter Copa's (2008-11) previous record of 33.

Keeping it in the Family
The 2024 season marks the 58th straight campaign that Massachusetts baseball will have an alumnus of the Flagship campus as head coach. Seventh-year skipper Matt Reynolds is a double graduate (2005, '10G), and was preceded by fellow alumni Mike Stone '82 (1988-2017) and Dick Bergquist '57 (1967-87).

This is the second longest active streak across Division I baseball. Only BYU (62 consecutive seasons) has been led by an alum of its campus for a longer period.

On Deck
With a win, the No. 6 Minutemen will advance to game two of the A-10 Championships to take on either No. 2 VCU or No. 7 Saint Joseph's at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22. If UMass falls to No. 3 Dayton, the team will compete in the consolation bracket at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Capital One Park.

Scoreboard

Massachusetts Baseball Faces #3 Dayton In A-10 Championship Opener

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Players Mentioned

Jack Beverly

Justin Blumenthal

Austin Burgess

Mike Gervasi

Jake Given

Carter Hanson

Sam Hill

Kyle Hoog

Justin Masteralexis

Andrew Middleton

Robbie O'Connor

Kevin Skagerlind

Braden Sullivan

Jake Swerdloff

Michael Toth

Matt Travisano

Marc Willi

Zack Zaetta

Scoreboard

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