April 14, 2009

AMHERST, Mass. - After making trips to Saint Louis and Boston and playing four games in three days, the UMass baseball team will be back in action at home on Wednesday as the squad will play host to Boston College at 3 p.m. on Earl Lorden Field. The Minutemen hold a 32-21 all-time record against the Eagles and recently downed B.C., 5-2, in the Beanpot semifinal last week.

Pitching Matchup
• RHP Mike DiCato (2-2, 6.82) vs. RHP Taylor Lasko (0-2, 6.59)

The Last Meeting - UMass vs. Boston College
• UMass last game against the Eagles came in the Beanpot semifinal on Apr. 7 as the Minutemen advanced to the Beanpot Championship game for a second consecutive year after earning a 5-2 win over B.C. at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.
•After falling down 2-0, senior Jim Macdonald rocketed a 1-2 pitch off the scoreboard for a two-run homer that tied the score at two in the fourth inning.
•UMass later plated the winning run in the top of the eighth. Brockton native Adam Tempesta led off with a double to left center and scored on an RBI single by junior Baudinet. Tempesta then finished off his evening in his hometown by plating a pair of insurance runs the following inning as he dropped a two-run single into right field.
•Sophomore Charlie Benson came out of the bullpen for the Minutemen to pick up the win (1-0), pitching a masterful 5.1 innings of scoreless relief, letting up just two hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
•Baudinet led all hitters with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with two triples, an RBI and a run scored.

Stone's 600th
• With 10 wins on the season, UMass head coach Mike Stone is now just two victories away from his 600th overall as a head coach. Stone currently holds a 598-552-4 mark in 26+ seasons. He is 544-462-2 as the frontman for the Minutemen (21+ seasons).

200 For Tempesta
•In his first at-bat against UConn on Apr. 8, senior Adam Tempesta logged his 200th career hit, joining Muchie Dagliere (257) and Bill Knight (203) as the only three Minutemen in program history to reach the plateau. Tempesta is now second in school history with 206 career hits.
•Tempesta is currently hitting .342 with 17 runs scored, nine doubles, one triple, three homeruns and 21 RBI in 27 games played.
•He leads the team in multiple-hit games (13) and ranks second on the squad in multiple-RBI games (5).
•The second baseman entered the season 10th all-time in career doubles and has now moved up to third with 44, three shy of Muchie Dagliere for second (47) and six away from the school record.
•Tempesta has recorded at least one base hit in 23 of 27 games that he has appeared in this season, 23 of the 26 games he's started.
•Dating back to the end of last season, Tempesta posted hits in 10 straight contests after ending 2008 on a four-game hitting streak and opening this year hitting safely in six straight. The senior's career-high was an 11-game hitting streak as sophomore in 2007.

Juniors Contributing Offensively
•Juniors Brian Baudinet and Mike Donato are both well on their way career-best seasons offensively and are the lone two players to start every game thus far for the Minutemen.
•Baudinet belted his eighth double of the season against Temple and already has surpassed his single season high for two-baggers (5) and tallied at least one in five straight games from Mar. 20-27. He is also more than halfway to his career high for RBI as he has 18 in 28 games compared to 23 in 44 games last season.
•Donato is hitting .319 (38-for-119) with 16 runs scored, six doubles and 20 RBI. His single-season bests heading into his junior campaign were 12 runs (2007), 31 hits (2008), eight doubles (2008) and 19 RBI (2008). He leads the team in hitting in conference play at .321 (17-for-53), has driven in nine and scored eight.

Two-Out Lightning
• As a team, UMass is hitting .299 with two outs, led by Brian Baudinet's .395 (15-for-38), Adam Tempesta's .385 (15-for-39) and Mike Donato's .372 (16-for-43) two-out averages.
• Tempesta and Donato each have a team-best 10 two-out RBI. Half of Donato's RBI on the year have come with two outs.

Eilenberg Ties Program Record
• Logging the final out in UMass' 6-4 victory over Saint Louis in game one of the series this past weekend, senior Mitchell Eilenberg tied a program record with his ninth career save, matching Bryan Adamski's career total.
• As a junior in 2008, Eilenberg tied the program's single season record with seven.

Triple Time
• UMass has nine triples in 29 games and surpassed the team total from last year just nine games in to the 2009 season. The Minutemen registered five three-baggers in 45 games in 2008.
• Nine triples is the highest total by a UMass squad since the team belted nine in 2003.
• Junior Brian Baudinet tied the individual single game record for triples with two against Boston College in the Beanpot Semifinal on Apr. 7. The last Minuteman to log two triples in a game was Muchie Dagliere vs. Providence on Apr. 12, 1996.

Hitting Streaks
• The following is a list of all hitting streaks five games or longer in 2009:
• Adam Tempesta, eight games, Mar. 14-28; seven games Mar. 31-Apr. 11
• Mike Donato, seven games, Feb. 27-Mar. 14; seven games, Apr. 4-11
• Jim Macdonald, six games, Mar. 7-22
• Austin Weymouth, five games, Feb. 27-Mar. 7 (has an active five-game streak)
• Tom Conley, five games, Mar. 22-28 (has an active five-game streak)
• Brian Baudinet, five games, Mar. 20-27
• Peter Copa, five games, Mar. 20-27; five games, Mar 30-Apr. 5
• Sam Boone, five games, Mar. 14-18

A New Face Behind The Mask In 2009
• UMass has a new face behind the plate this season as freshman Tom Conley has been a part of the Minutemen's battery in 28 of 29 games, making 26 starts.
• Conley is second on the team in walks with 17 on the year and boasts a .430 on-base percentage.
• He has recorded at least one hit in 14 of the last 16 games and is batting .316 in Atlantic 10 play (12-for-38) with 10 runs scored and a .422 on-base percentage.
• Conley scored a run in five straight games from Apr. 4-8.
• He is hitting a lofty .615 (8-for-13) at home and .423 (11-for-26) overall in the month of April.

Gedman Contributes At The Plate And On The Mound
• Junior Mike Gedman has been the go-to guy out of the bullpen for the Minutemen and has four saves in nine appearances.
• His saves came in wins over Arizona (9-8), VCU (4-3), Hartford (6-4) and Temple (7-6).
• Gedman has limited opponents to a .184 batting average and holds a 3.29 ERA with 12 strikeouts.
• At the plate, Gedman has hit 9-for-38 (.243) with three doubles and two triples for a .421 slugging percentage and has contributed six RBI.

Stellar Pitching Helps Minutemen Take Series At Saint Louis
• UMass' starting pitchers Mitchell Clegg, Nick Serino and Jared Freni all had strong outings on the mound against the Saint Louis Billikens, helping the Minutemen take the series, 2-1.
• Each starter went 7+ innings on the weekend with Freni throwing a complete game, his first of his career. The trio finished with a 2.77 ERA and struck out 22 batters in 26.0 innings, including nine in 8.2 innings by Clegg
• Despite suffering the team's lone loss on the weekend, Serino had a successful performance in his start, no-hitting the Billikens through the first 5.1 innings of game two.

Smashing The Spiders
• UMass raced out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back, posting a 24-9 victory over Richmond at Pitt Field on Mar. 22. It marked the most runs ever scored by the Minutemen against an A-10 opponent.
• The Minutemen pounded out 24 hits against the Spiders, two shy of the program's single game mark, including a school single game-record eight doubles.
• Eleven different players tallied hits for UMass, led by junior Mike Donato's career-best 5-for-7 performance as he contributed four RBI and scored two.

Serino Stifles VCU
• Sophomore Nick Serino fanned a career-high 11 batters over six scoreless innings, helping UMass to a 4-3 victory over Virginia Commonwealth at The Diamond on Mar. 18.
• The Rams had won seven of their past nine games entering the contest.
• Serino earned the victory, scattering three hits and walking five. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning.
• His 11 strikeouts were the most by a Minuteman since Apr. 16, 2005, when Matt Torra fanned 16 batters in 10.2 innings against Saint Joseph's.
• Serino's previous career high for strikeouts (7) came in a start at George Washington on Apr. 6, 2008. He worked 6.1 innings against the Colonials.

Minutemen Post Big Win Out West
• The Minutemen never put down their bats as they scored in five of the nine innings to squeeze past the Arizona Wildcats on Mar. 7, marking the first time UMass had taken down a Pac-10 opponent since 1982 when the Minutemen defeated UCLA, 11-7.
• Mitchell Clegg got the nod and the win for UMass as he struck out nine in his seven innings pitched, scattering five hits.
• In the top of the ninth, junior Mike Donato posted what would be the winning run for the UMass after launching the ball over the left field wall for his first homerun of the season.

Starting Off On A Good Note
• Sam Boone hit his first career home run on Feb. 27 in a 4-3 triumph over Northwestern, helping propel the Minutemen to their first victory in a season opener since 2004. Junior Mike Gedman hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning of a 3-3 game to bring in Mike Donato for what would be the winning run. Senior Mitchell Eilenberg earned the win on the mound, pitching 2.2 innings of relief.
• UMass' 9-8 victory over Arizona on Mar. 7 brought the squad's record to 3-2, marking the best five-game start for the Minutemen since 2002 (3-2).

An Offensive Explosion
• UMass posted 25-4 triumph over Fairfield on Mar. 1, marking the most runs the squad has scored since the school record was set with 32 runs against another team from the Nutmeg State, Central Connecticut on April 20, 1993.
• Against the Stags, the Minutemen pounded out 20 hits, including five doubles, two homeruns and a school-record four triples. The previous mark was three, set many times.
• Sophomore Peter Copa paced the squad with a career-best six RBI and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. Senior Adam Tempesta and junior Brian Baudinet had four RBI apiece.

Next Up
• UMass will continue its four-game homestand with an Atlantic 10 series against Saint Joseph's, beginning with with a 3 p.m. contest on Friday, Apr. 17, on Earl Lorden Field.