April 20, 2008

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AMHERST, Mass. - Rob Lyerly went 6-for-6 with three home runs, two doubles, and a triple to lead Charlotte (29-8, 11-3 A-10) to a 24-6 victory over UMass (11-17, 4-10 A-10) on Saturday afternoon at Earl Lorden Field. He drove in six runs on the day and scored four as the 49ers piled up 29 hits. Brian Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) was 2-for-4 for UMass, while Andy Tuetken (Smithfield, R.I.) had two RBI and scored once. Zach Rosenbaum went seven innings, allowing six runs on six hits to get the win. Bryan Leigh (Somerset, Mass.), the first of five UMass pitchers, allowed four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings to suffer the loss.

The 49ers jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the second inning, benefitting from two UMass errors. A Lyerly double to leadoff with third led to another run and Charlotte blew the game open in the fourth with five runs. The 49ers used six hits in the inning, with Ross Steedley's 2 RBI single being the biggest blow.

UMass' big inning came in the bottom of the fourth. Jim Macdonald's (Cheshire, Conn.) one-out single scored Adam Tempesta (Brockton, Mass.), who had reached on an error. Macdonald then scored on an error and Garrett Glashoff (Buchanon, N.Y.) and Peter Copa (Malden, Mass.) scored UMass' third and fourth runs on Tuetken's double to left-center. Kyle Multner (Peabody, Mass.) singled in the next at-bat to plate Tuetken with UMass' fifth run.

Lyerly's first home run of the game, a two-run shot, came in the fifth and he added a three-run homer in Charlotte's six-run sixth inning to take a 17-6 lead. He added his third round-tripper in three innings game in the seventh and the 49ers put up six more runs in the ninth. Aaron Bray and Justin Wilson each had two-run doubles in the inning.

The Minutemen and 49ers will close their three-game set on Sunday at noon.