University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Weekly Sports Update
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March 27, 2001
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UMass Weekly Sports Notebook
BASEBALL
* The Minutemen had a successful opening weekend to Atlantic 10 Conference play, winning two of three games at La Salle to begin league play with a 2-1 record. UMass dropped the first game 9-8 in 10 innings, but came back to win 10-7 and 15-2 in the final two games. The Minutemen were not quite as successful earlier in the week, dropping games at Liberty (13-4), Richmond (5-3) and Delaware State (12-5). UMass now stands 3-8 overall this season.
* Senior outfielder Gavin Clark (Springfield, Mass.) had an outstanding week at the plate, going nine for 24 (.375) with four home runs and eight runs batted in. Clark had a string of three straight games with a homer, leaving the park against Richmond, Delaware State and in the first game of the La Salle series. After being held without a home run in the second game against the Explorers, he hit his fourth homer of the week in the series finale. On the season, Clark is now batting .300, and leads the team in both home runs (four) and runs batted in (nine).
* Senior righthanded pitcher Nick Skirkanich (Cheshire, Conn.) earned his first victory of the season in the final game of the La Salle series. Skirkanich tossed seven innings against the Explorers, allowing only one run on four hits while striking out four. He currently leads the team with a 4.15 earned run average on the season, while posting a 1-1 record with one save, and holding opponents to a .250 batting average.
* Junior righthanded pitcher Jesse Santos (Chelmsford, Mass.) also pitched well in the La Salle series, coming out of the bullpen in both games of the doubleheader on Saturday. In the first game, Santos allowed only one earned run on four hits in four innings of work, but was dealt the loss when the Explorers scored two runs on an error in the bottom of the 10th inning. In the second game, he surrendered only one run on one hit in three innings to earn his first save of the year. On the season, Santos currently ranks second on the team in both innings pitched (15-2/3) and strikeouts (13).
* The Minutemen return to action when they travel to Connecticut for a 3:00 p.m. game on Wednesday, March 28. UMass will then play host to St. Joseph's in a three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series over the weekend. The Minutemen and the Hawks will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 31, at 12:00 p.m., and conclude the series with a single game on Sunday, April 1, at 12:00 p.m. The game against Hartford, originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, has been moved to Thursday, May 3, at 3:00 p.m. due to the weather.
WOMEN'S CREW
* Women's crew opens its spring season Saturday, March 31, as the Varsity heads to Lawrence, Kan. to compete in the Kansas Invitational and the JV, Novice and Lightweights travel to Camden, N.J. to row in the Kenecht Cup.
MEN'S GYMNASTICS
* The men's gymnastics team won its third straight ECAC Championship last Saturday, March 24, with a score of 208.050 and qualified for next month's NCAA Championship in Columbus, Ohio. The Minutemen topped second-place Temple (207.200) and host school William and Mary (206.500), which finished third.
* Freshman Pat McFarlin (Longmeadow, Mass.) placed first on the pommel horse with a mark of 9.200. Sophomore Justin Hammar (Woodbury, Minn.) and senior Andrew Leis (Suffield, Conn.) also finished in the top five.
* Eric Bacon (Belchertown, Mass.), Bryan McNulty (Springfield, Va.) and McFarlin all tied for fourth place with marks of 9.100 in the floor exercise.
* On the still rings, senior Benjamin Kandel (Syracuse, N.Y.) and sophomore Darren Morace (Westfield, Mass.) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with marks of 8.750 and 8.700. Senior Jonathan Hershey (Ephrata, Pa.) finished in a tie for first on the horizontal bar with a mark of 8.650.
* McNutly and McFarlin were crowned individual champions on Sunday, March 25. McNulty took the floor exercise with a score of 9.3 while McFarlin won the pommel horse event with a mark of 9.2.
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
* The women's gymnastics team finished in second place at the Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday, March 24, with a team score of 193.825. George Washington finished with a score of 194.975, to claim its fourth straight title.
* Senior Jobi Dan'Sy (Philadelphia, Pa.) placed second on the balance beam with a score of 9.925, equalling the all-time UMass record held by Katie Teft and Anita Sanyal. Senior Mary Moore (Coral Springs, Fla.) finished fourth with a score of 9.850.
* Freshman Mellory Giberson (Bingham, Maine) tied for second on the uneven parallel bars with a mark of 9.800. She finished the day third in the all-around with a combined score of 38.700.
* In the floor exercise, Dan'Sy placed second with a score of 9.900. Sophomore Megan Donoghue (Tewksbury, Mass.) finished third with a 9.875.
* Junior Tracy Chew (Silver Spring, Md.) placed fourth on the vault with a 9.700. Giberson, Donoghue, Moore and sophomore Jen Gendron (Shrewsbury, Mass.) all finished in the top eight for the Minutewmen.
* Giberson was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and joined Dan'Sy on the All-Conference Team.
* UMass will compete in the NCAA regionals in Ann Arbor, Mich. next weekend (Apr. 5 & 6)
MEN'S LACROSSE
* The Minutemen went 2-0 on the week to improve their record to 6-0 on the season. The Minutemen defeated Boston College, 23-2, and then beat Vermont, 18-6. UMass is currently ranked sixth in the nation.
* Senior Rich Kunkel (Centereach, N.Y.) led the Minutemen with six goals and two assists during the week. Senior Alex Racioppi (Winchester, Mass.) scored four goals against Vermont, and freshman Neil Lundberg (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) scored four goals and added an assist against Boston College. Sophomore Kevin Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) also had a hat trick against Boston College, and junior Marc Morley (Canton, N.Y.) scored three against Vermont.
* The Minutemen have outscored their opponents 105 to 43 so far this season, including 27 to six in the first quarter. UMass averages 17.50 goals per game, while allowing just 7.17 goals per game.
* The Minutemen close out their six-game homestand this Saturday, March 31, with a 1:00 p.m. ECAC Lacrosse League game with Penn State.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE
* The women's lacrosse team lost to No. 10 Syracuse University, 15-8, Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. With the loss, UMass fell to 0-4.
* The Minutewomen fell behind 2-0 and then 3-1 before tying the game at three. SU had a 9-4 advantage at the intermission and continued its momentum as they opened the second half on a 4-0 run to clinch the 15-8 victory.
* Rachel Ingraffea (Ithaca, N.Y.) had her second hat trick in as many games to lead UMass. Her seven goals through four games is also a team-best.
* Goalkeepers Cyndi Doyle (Bridgewater, Vt.) and Jen Nardi (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) combined to post 12 saves for the Minutewomen.
* UMass returns to action on Wednesday, March 28, as it plays host to Vermont for a non-conference game at 3:30 p.m. The Minutewomen are scheduled to open their home schedule Saturday as host to Hofstra University. Time is still to be determined. Both the Vermont and Hofstra games will be played at Garber Field.
SOFTBALL
* Softball swept three games with La Salle (14-6, 9-0, 7-0) in Philadelphia last weekend to improve to 14-9 on the year and 3-0 in the Atlantic 10. The Minutewomen have now won seven straight games.
* Pitchers Jen Hadley (Bristol, Conn.) and Carrie Jeffries (Placentia, Calif.) each hurled one-hitters versus the Explorers. Hadley, who had a perfect game broken up with two outs in the seventh inning of game three, struck out six and walked none in UMass' 7-0 win. Jeffries' one-hitter came in the Minutewomen's 9-0 win in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. She struck out two and walked none to improve to 4-3 on the year, while Hadley is now 3-5.
* Freshman Jamie Cahalan (Mesa, Ariz.) went 2-for-3 in game two and hit her third home run of the year, while junior Cherra Wheeler (Kingsburg, Calif.) hit her second roundtripper of the season in game three. Wheeler currently leads the team in batting (.333) and doubles (six).
* Junior Ashley Bakken (Phoenix, Ariz.) had a tremendous weekend at the plate, going a combined 5-for-9 in the three-game set, including a 4-for-4 performance in game one. She scored three runs and knocked in two more in the first game, and was only a home run shy of the cycle. For the year, Bakken is hitting .302 with three doubles.
* Head coach Elaine Sortino won her 700th career game in UMass' first win of the weekend over La Salle. Sortino, in her 22nd season at the helm, currently has 702 of the 768 wins in the history of the softball program. Her record stands at 702-323-3 (.683).
* The Minutewomen are scheduled to host Vermont on March 29 at 2:00 p.m. at the UMass Softball Complex, then host St. Joseph's this weekend.
MEN'S SWIMMING
* Senior swimmer Billy Brown (Fullerton, Calif.) competed at the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming & Diving Championships at Texas A&M University last weekend, making him the first UMass swimmer to compete at NCAAs in school history. On Friday, March 23, Brown finished 39th in the 100 breast with a time of 55.99. Saturday he competed in the 200 breast, placing 33rd with a time of 2:01.87.
* Brown holds UMass records in the 100 (55.73) and 200 (1:58.66) breast, as well as in the 400 IM (3:56.48). In his career Brown won four individual Atlantic 10 titles.
MEN'S TENNIS
* The men's tennis team went 0-3 last week against some tough competition in Florida. They dropped matches of 7-2, 5-4, and 7-0 against Lynn, St. Thomas, and Florida Atlantic, respectively.
* Junior Steve Prisco (Dedham, Mass.) and freshman Brent Davis (San Diego, Calif.) continued their hot play at the No. 1 doubles. They went 2-1 over the week to improve to 6-2 overall this season, and 5-1 in dual matches. Davis is also 5-4 overall at No. 2 singles, following 13-3 campaign last fall.
* The Minutemen will play next Saturday, March 31, at Dartmouth.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
* The women's tennis team went 2-2 last week on its annual Florida spring break trip. The Minutewomen defeated Broward Community College and St. Thomas by scores of 9-0 and 5-0, respectively, but fell to Lynn and Florida Atlantic 9-0 and 5-2.
* Junior Lindsey Gillooly (Stoughton, Mass.) and freshman Susan Hyams (Cincinnati, Ohio) both picked up three wins in the four matches. Gillooly now stands at 4-2 from the No. 5 singles spot, while Hyams is 5-1 at the No. 4.
* The Minutewomen will play three matches this weekend in Philadelphia, Pa. On Saturday, March 31, they will play Villanova and A-10 foe Duquesne. On Sunday, they will play Temple. Both UMass and Temple were selected by the A-10 coaches to finish in first place.
MEN'S & WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
* The men's and women's outdoor track and field teams open their season Saturday, March 31, at the Smith College Invitational.
WOMEN'S WATER POLO
* The No. 18 women's water polo team went 3-3 on the week. The Minutewomen went on a four-game West Coast trip that saw them defeat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-2), and fall to No. 10 San Diego State (9-4), No. 8 Long Beach State (8-4) and No. 3 USC (16-2). UMass then went onto sweep a Collegiate Water Polo Association Tournament in New London, Conn. The Minutewomen defeated Harvard (6-5) and Connecticut College (13-6). UMass is now 10-6 overall (5-0 CWPA).
* In the win over Claremont, sophomore Amy Black (Fremont, Calif.) and freshman Shauna Nielsen (Huntington Beach, Calif.) each scored two goals, while junior All-American goalie Dana Sinkwich (Ontario, Calif.) made nine saves.
* In the loss to San Diego State, Black scored two goals to lead the offense, while junior Anne Dettloff (Barrington, Ill.) scored two goal to lead UMass in the Long Beach State game.
* Six different UMass players provided the offense for UMass in the win over Harvard. Black, sophomore Kelly Chassy (Morgan Hill, Calif.), Dettloff, sophomore Mattie Newell (Dillsburg, Pa.), junior Megan Perry (Fresno, Calif.) and junior Megan Thompson (Chesterfield, Mo.) each scored a goal in the win.
* Sophomore Lizzy Boyle (Darien, Conn.) scored five goals versus Conn. College. Freshman Ronda Dykstra (Grandville, Mich.) scored three goals, while sophomore Catherine Getty (Wayne, N.J.) and senior Erin Hillier (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) each scored two goals. Thompson added a goal for UMass.
* The Minutewomen return to action on Saturday, March 31, and Sunday, April 1, when they travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to compete at the Indiana Invitational.
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