UMass Baseball Falls to Saint Joseph’s, 6-1

Senior John Jennings went 2-for-4 with his fifth home run of the season for the Minutemen in the loss.

Junior Mike Geannelis went 2-for-4 with a double vs. Saint Joseph's on Saturday.

Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. - Unable to solve Saint Joseph’s starter Tim Brennan until the fifth inning, the University of Massachusetts baseball team fell to the Hawks, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon at Earl Lorden Field. The loss leaves the Minutemen at 7-16 overall, 2-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Joseph’s improves to 16-14 on the year and 5-3 in conference action.

The Hawks scored the first run of the contest in the top of the third. Peter Sitaras opened up the frame with a leadoff walk and stole second. Then with two away, Sitaras came home on an error when Deon Stafford, Jr. reached with an infield single and the ball was misplayed at first.

Saint Joseph’s broke the game open with back-to-back RBI doubles from Matt Maul and Cal Jadacki in the top of the fifth that pushed the score to 4-0. Jadacki drove in two more runs with a two-out single in the seventh that increased the margin to 6-0.

Junior Mike Geannelis ended Brennan’s perfect game bid with a double to right center with one out in the fifth. Senior John Jennings then broke up the shutout with his team-leading fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh. Geannelis and Jennings combined for four of UMass’ five hits in the contest, both going 2-for-4 at the plate.

Freshman Justin Lasko threw 4.2 innings in his start and allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts and took the loss (2-1) for the Minutemen. Brennan (4-0) tossed a complete game for the Hawks and struck out eight, while walking none.