Massachusetts Baseball Takes Series From Ball State With 8-6 Victory

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UMass	0	4	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	8	11	1
Ball State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	6	10	1

UMass

Ball State

MUNCIE, Ind. – University of Massachusetts baseball secured its third straight weekend series triumph after defeating Ball State, 8-6, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Shebek Stadium.

UMass improved to 14-22 overall and 10-14 in the Mid-American Conference, while Ball State moved 21-23 overall and 14-10 in the league.

Reece McCarthy, Jack Beverly and Matt Travisano led the team in hits with two, followed by five Minutemen with one. Travisano and Vance Bonior both recorded a double on the afternoon. McCarthy, Beverly, Ryan Kolben and Travisano each touched the plate twice, while Anthony Tirado had a team-high three RBI. Beverly, Kolben and Travisano had one RBI apiece.

Massachusetts scored four runs in the second to take the early lead. After back-to-back singled from McCarthy and Beverly, Kolben hit a single up the middle to drive home McCarthy to make it a 1-0 game. A sacrifice bunt from Marc Willi advanced Beverly to third and Kolben to second. Travisano then singled to left field with Beverly crossing the plate to give UMass a 2-0 lead. Kolben tagged up on a sacrifice fly by Tirado, before Bonior doubled down the left field line to put Travisano in scoring position. A fielding error on Ball State then allowed Travisano to touch home plate to extend the Minutemen's lead to 4-0.

In the third, McCarthy led off with a walk, before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Beverly then singled through the right side, as McCarthy came across home plate to pull UMass ahead 5-0. Beverly then advanced to second on a wild pitch and Kolben was walked. A wild pitch put Beverly and Kolben into scoring position, before another wild pitch followed to help Beverly cross the dish to give the Minutemen a 6-0 lead. With Travisano on first after being walked, Tirado hit a sacrifice bunt to score Kolben, giving Massachusetts a 7-0 advantage.

Massachusetts added another run in the seventh to take an 8-0 lead. With two outs, Travisano doubled to right center field, followed by an RBI single up the middle by Tirado to score Travisano.

Ball State scored three runs in the eighth to make it an 8-3 contest. In the ninth, the Cardinals tacked on three more runs to get within two at 8-6, but UMass was able to get the final out and come out on top.

Sam Perry (1-0) received his first collegiate win after starting on the mound for Massachusetts. Perry tossed seven complete innings, allowing no runs, six hits, two walks and striking out three.

Alex Burden (1-5) took the loss for Ball State, giving up four runs on as many hits, walking one and having one strikeout in 1.1 innings.

Massachusetts visits Siena on Tuesday, April 28, in Loudonville, New York, for a 3 p.m. contest. The game will be streamed on Siena All-Access.

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