The Massachusetts baseball team fell 5-3 in its series opener against Ohio. The Minutemen (14-24, 10-15 Mid-American Conference) struggled in a nail-biter battle against the Bobcats (9-36, 6-19 MAC) Friday afternoon at Earl Lorden Field.
The UMass batting lineup was unable to produce hits, consistently smacking the ball to Ohio fielders. Seven batters had one hit, while Braden Sullivan went 0-3 and Reece McCarthy went 0-4.
Anthony Tirado went 1-5 at the plate and tripled to left field in the bottom of the fifth. Vance Bonior drove Tirado home on a single to center left field, squeaking through the Bobcats’ third baseman and shortstop. The score sat at 2-1 in favor of the Minutemen.
UMass got off to a hot beginning against the Bobcats. The Minutemen locked down three consecutive outs against Ohio in the first inning from pitcher Callen Powers.
Victory began to slip out of UMass’ sight after the fifth inning. Powers opened up the sixth inning with his sixth strikeout of the day but proceeded to give up a homer to Ohio’s Reese Harmon, bringing the score even again at 2-2.
Tirado made a fielding error in the eighth inning that allowed two Ohio runners to advance into scoring position.
Powers gave up a single on the next at-bat in the eighth, his fourth hit allowed that inning. The single from the Bobcat’s Tyler Stack sent in two RBI’s to bring the score to 4-2. Brandon Wingenroth was brought out to the mound to relieve Powers afterwards. A quick ground out to second base ended UMass’ turbulent inning on defense.
“When it’s tight like [Friday], one mistake can play a big role,” Minutemen co-head coach Brandon Shileikis said. “We couldn’t totally shift the momentum our way when we had the chance to.”
Wingenroth then gave up two walks and a run in the ninth inning and was replaced by Dylan Terwilliger to bring Ohio’s offensive strike to an end.
The Minutemen took the plate with desperation to come back from the 5-2 differential. Jack Beverly flew out to center field for UMass’ first out in the bottom of the ninth. Sullivan and Ryan Kolben resided on first and second base with Matt Travisano taking the plate.
Travisano managed a hit to shallow left field, driving home Kolben to tighten the gap 5-3. Travisano was put out at second base on a single from Tirado. Bonior struck out on a full count to bring the game to an end.
Ty Fox singled to right field to get on base first for the Minutemen. Gavin O’Brien slugged one far down the left field, sending Fox in to get UMass on the board 1-0 in the first inning. The Bobcats swiftly answered with a run of their own in the top of the second. Will Henson made the catch in deep right field to end the top of the second.
Beverly singled to start the Minutemen’s offensive drive in the second inning. Despite a fielding and throwing error made by the Bobcat’s third baseman, UMass could not score a run and the game remained tied at 1-1 until the fifth inning.
The Minutemen allowed no hits or runs in the top of the third and fourth innings. In the third, right fielder Bonior collected two putouts, sandwiching a strikeout from Powers.
Jack Beverly singled to left field to get on base in the fourth inning. Kolben faced a full count but was unable to help get the Minutemen back in the lead and ended the inning with a flyout to center field.
Second baseman Sullivan stopped a ground ball and made the play at first to Beverly for the third out in the top of the sixth. In UMass’ turn at-bat, McCarthy was walked, but then tagged out on a double putout by the Bobcat infield in response to a ground ball from Sullivan to second base.
Fox made an impressive on-the-move catch in deep left field to close out the top of the seventh inning. The Minutemen could not produce any runs in the eighth. UMass had 27 total putouts and two errors.
“That was unfortunately the way it turned out today,” Shileikis said. “One mistake here or there is going to make the difference.”
The Minutemen will continue their series against Ohio at home on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m., hoping to claim the win against the lowest standing team in the MAC. The games can be streamed on ESPN+.
Meghan Barrows can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @meghansbarrows.
