UMass Baseball Splits Doubleheader with Bonnies

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - University of Massachusetts baseball resumed Atlantic 10 play on Friday afternoon and split its doubleheader at St. Bonaventure, taking game one, 3-2, before dropping the nightcap, 5-3. Following the day’s action, the Minutemen are now 6-12 overall, 2-3 in the A-10, while the Bonnies move to 13-11-1 on the season (1-4 A-10).

UMass broke up a scoreless deadlock in the top of the third with a solo home run by sophomore Brett Evangelista, his first of his career, to take a 1-0 lead.

The Bonnies rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the eighth as David Vaccaro legged out a leadoff infield single and crossed the plate on a double play ball later in the frame.

In the Minutemen’s next turn at bat, Evangelista answered for the Minutemen, plating junior Mike Geannelis with a RBI double to left center after Geannelis reached with a one-out walk.

Junior Ryan Moloney was stellar in his start, allowing just two runs and striking out five through seven, but did not receive the decision. Sophomore Kevin Hassett pitched a hitless eighth to collect the win (1-0), while senior Evan Mackintosh worked the ninth and earned his fourth save of the season. Nate Grant tossed 1.1 innings out of the bullpen for St. Bonaventure and took the loss (1-2).

In game two, UMass used four hits to build a 3-0 lead in the third, including back-to-back RBI doubles from junior Mike Hart and senior John Jennings. Geannelis plated Hart with a single to right to cap off the scoring.


St. Bonaventure responded, though, by scoring five unanswered runs. Thad Johnson cut the Bonnies’ deficit to 3-1 with a homer in the fourth and the squad pushed across a second run without a hit in the sixth.

The Bonnies then tied the score courtesy of an RBI single from Tommy LaCongo in the seventh. He went on to cross the plate on a fielder’s choice ground ball for the go-ahead run later in the inning. Ted Dilts added a fifth run for St. Bonaventure with a solo home run in the eighth.

Senior Kevin Lacy took the loss (0-1) for UMass out of the bullpen, allowing two runs on two hits. Starter Tim Cassidy struck out nine over six innings for a career high. Brandon Schilmm went eight innings, scattering three runs on nine hits to pick up the win (3-3) for the Bonnies, while T Johnson logged his third of the season.

The Minutemen will close out the series at St. Bonaventure on Sun., Apr. 10, with game three set for a noon start.