Monday, April 2, 2018

Late UMass Comeback Falls Short Against St. Bonaventure, 7-5

Recap, photo courtesy of UMass
Fry belts first career home run in rubber game loss

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts baseball mounted an eighth inning comeback, but the effort fell short as the Minutemen fell to St. Bonaventure, 7-5, on Sunday in the series rubber game at Earl Lorden Field. The Minutemen drop to 9-8 with the loss (2-4 Atlantic 10) and the Bonnies improve to 6-14 on the season (2-4 Atlantic 10).
 
Marcus Fry homered for the first time as a Minuteman, while elsewhere in the lineup Ryan Lever went 2-for-2 with three walks and two runs scored. Nolan Kessinger had a 2-for-4 day at the plate with two RBIs and Eddy Hart scored twice. Lever's day extended the junior's reached base streak to 16 games, while Fry also reached for the 10th consecutive contest.
 
Massachusetts was first to the scoreboard with a two-run third inning. Hart began the sequence with a one out single up the middle, moving to second on a walk to Lever before coming around on a Kessinger base knock. Cooper Mrowka then followed up by poking a single through the left side that plated Lever. The Minutemen had chances to tack on insurance but would leave the bases loaded.
 
In the following frame the teams traded runs. SBU's Ryan MacCarrick scored on Jeff Palczewski's RBI single before the Minutemen countered in the bottom half with Fry's leadoff dinger into the trees beyond right center field.
 
The Bonnies would turn the tables in the top of the sixth with a six-spot. Casey Vincent's two-run double off the right field wall evened the score at three-apiece and on the next pitch, Palczewski placed a single in left field that plated Vincent. Ben MacDonald later smacked a two-run single before Sam Fuller's sacrifice fly concluded the frame.
 
UMass came back within two in the last of the eighth. After two strikeouts to begin the inning, Hart worked a four-pitch walk before Lever poked a 2-2 offering through the right side. With Hart now at second base, Kessinger lined the first pitch he saw up the middle to bring in Hart and put Lever on third base. Lever proceeded to score on a wild pitch before the threat ended with Kessinger left in scoring position.
 
After Casey Aubin struck out the side in the top of the ninth, UMass' Logan Greene reached by way of a single to bring the tying run to the plate, but would advance no further as James Wetter induced a fly ball and a strikeout to take the game and series.
 
SBU's Roman Wild (1-2) earned the win out of the bullpen, lasting 3.1 shutout innings during which he allowed a single hit, walked one and struck out six batters. For the Minutemen, Kevin Hassett (0-3) received the loss despite a strong start to his outing. He was responsible for six runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks, fanning five over his 5.1 innings.
 
Each Bonnies hitter in the No. 2 through No. 9 spots in the batting order recorded at least one hit. Three different players in Vincent, Palczewski and MacDonald had two RBIs apiece.
 
Massachusetts hosts Northeastern on Tues., April 3 at 3 p.m. from Earl Lorden Field in the Baseball Beanpot Semifinals.
 

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