The Massachusetts baseball team swept Bowling Green in a double header on Saturday, taking game one 6-5 on a bases-loaded walk before taking the second game in 11 innings, scoring two runs in the bottom of the final frame en route to a 2-1 victory. With both wins, the Minutemen (12-19, 8-13 Mid-American) recorded their second consecutive MAC series sweep.
The home team spent much of the afternoon playing from behind. The first game required a four-run comeback after the Falcons (15-23, 8-13 MAC) built a 4-0 lead. The second required 10 scoreless innings of patience before one swing from Ty Fox and one pinch-hit opportunity from Marc Willi ended the day.
Anthony Tirado, already 2-for-4 in the second game of the day, stepped up to the plate to lead off the 11th inning for UMass with his team down a run. The shortstop deposited a single to left field for his third hit, giving the Minutemen a strong start to the inning. After Gavin O’Brien’s flyout down the right field line, Fox smacked a double to right center, scoring Tirado from first base to tie the game.
Another flyout from Reece McCarthy brought UMass down to its final out and allowed Bowling Green to intentionally walk Braden Sullivan to create a force out at third. This strategic maneuver didn’t pay off, as Willi, pinch-hitting for Jared Muñoz, drove a 2-1 pitch into left field to score Fox from second. The Minutemen had won the game.
Willi’s last hit came fifteen days prior against Northern Illinois. The Michigan transfer has battled all season long to perform on the diamond and earn his spot in the offensive rotation. In a game with copious microscopic battles, the one that changed the game was Willi’s consistent fight to do more for his team.
“[Willi] has kind of been in and out of some lineups, and [he] probably is a guy that wants to be in there more than he is,” co-head coach Max Weir said. “That’s part of why we’re comfortable going [to him] in those spots, [because] he’s not afraid of them.”
Tirado led the way offensively, but Jack Beverly and Ryan Kolben each chipped in one hit as well. While the youthful top of the order — particularly Tirado, Fox and O’Brien –keeps producing, the veteran middle has slowly found its groove after some breakout performances against Harvard in the Beanpot.
The experienced players like Sullivan, Beverly and Kolben have led the team vocally, contributing behind the scenes and bolstering the resilience UMass has utilized over the past two weeks.
The same edge carried to the mound, where the Minutemen pitching staff kept the Falcons from ever fully running away with the score.
“It’s not letting one play, positive or negative, bleed into the next,” Weir said. “We work on it hard, and you can look at a lot of our games and point to the fact that we scratch and claw our way back.”
That mentality carried through every late-game spot on Saturday. Vance Bonior started the comeback in game one, Kolben finished it and the second game followed the same story. Tirado opened the 11th with a single, Fox drove him in and Willi came off the bench to end the day. Many different UMass players were unfazed in high-pressure moments.
In the early matchup on Saturday, it only took two innings for the Minutemen to recover from a three-run deficit. The junior Kolben was the hero for his team, kickstarting the comeback with a two-run shot to deep center field in the bottom of the eighth. As walks and singles filled the bases one inning later, the batting order came back around to the catcher: this time, he showed off his patience instead of his power, and it led to a game-winning walk.
The UMass pitching staff locked down Bowling Green’s lineup in the latter game, allowing only one run and scattering seven hits. Sam Perry did the bulk of the pitching, throwing 7.2 innings while giving up five hits and no runs. The freshman’s outing on Saturday is his longest of the season, beating out a five-inning, one-hit performance against Northern Illinois.
“[The staff] can’t pitch scared,” co-head coach Brandon Shileikis said. “When the pressure’s on, go and make the best pitch you can, and whatever happens happens. That was the mentality the guys brought all day, all weekend really.”
Brandon Wingenroth, Jack Niedringhaus and Dylan Terwilliger finished out the second game. Niedringhaus went two innings, giving up a hit and two walks, and Terwilliger got the win with his one-hit, one-run 11th inning.
The home team came into Saturday with a chance to win another MAC series. They left with two dogpiles, two walk-offs and another reminder that they’ve become very comfortable living in uncomfortable innings.
The Minutemen play again at Earl Lorden Field on Tuesday, April 21 against Central Connecticut State. The non-conference matchup will be streamed on ESPN+ at 3 p.m.
Matt Ford-Wellman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @MattFW_4.
