For the second time this season, the Massachusetts baseball team failed to score any runs. Mid-American Conference opponent Northern Illinois limited the Minutemen (6-17, 2-13 MAC) to only four hits the entire game. The Huskies’ (18-9, 10-5 MAC) pitching was the key to a dominant 6-0 victory over UMass.
Sophomore starting pitcher Carter Cox had quite the showing on the mound for Northern Illinois through the first eight innings of work. Cox faced 30 batters and only allowed three hits and two walks. The Missouri native recorded an impressive 12 strikeouts on 120 pitches thrown. Relief pitchers Josh Loren and Gavin Micklinghoff finished the game in the bottom of the ninth, each striking out one batter.
The Huskies scored the majority of their runs in the top of the second. Cooper Cohn added the second Northern Illinois score. The junior doubled, and then a groundout advanced Cohn to third. Nolan Sandee bunted to score Cohn for the second run of the game. Charlie Parcell worked the pitch count in his favor and walked. Cole Smith singled, scoring Sandee and advancing Parcell to third. Caden Robertson singled to score the final run of the inning to make it 4-0 after two frames.
Northern Illinois second baseman Smith dominated at the plate. Smith was 4-of-5 with two RBIs and one run. The senior started with a single up the middle in the top of the first inning. Designated hitter Robertson singled to center field to advance Smith from first to third base. First baseman Gavin Baldwin hit a sac-fly to center field, and senior Smith scored the first run of the game.
The early offensive surge put immediate pressure on the Minutemen, forcing them to play from behind for the remainder of the game. UMass was unable to respond offensively, continuing a trend of slow starts that has plagued the team in the past few games.
The Minutemen’s total of four hits came from four different players: left fielder Gavin O’Brien, center fielder Ty Fox, catcher Will Briggs and designated hitter Jared Munoz. Fox usually strings together multi-hit games and has been very productive so far this season for UMass, but struck out three times against the Huskies.
The final two runs came in the top of the ninth thanks to a Sandee double, scoring Marcus Romero, which Smith followed by raking a single to center to score Sandee. These runs sealed away a 6-0 victory for the Huskies.
The Minutemen saw some pitching success thanks to relief pitcher Sam Perry. The freshman pitched the third through the seventh inning and allowed zero runs with five strikeouts. UMass starting pitcher Justin Masteralexis could not keep up with Northern Illinois’ hot bats, allowing six hits and four runs in his two innings pitched.
Despite putting runners on base in limited opportunities, the Minutemen could not string together hits or generate any scoring chances. Being shut out twice this season has highlighted ongoing struggles with the team’s situational hitting and run production.
UMass will travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to compete in the Beanpot opening round on Tuesday, April 7th, at 3 p.m. It will face Boston College, looking to get back in the win column. This game presents an opportunity for the Minutemen to build momentum before heading back to conference play against Eastern Michigan. If UMass hopes to turn its season around, it will need more consistent performances both offensively and on the mound in the weeks ahead.
Brennan McGrevy can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Bmcgrevy.
