Baseball sweeps UMass series with three consecutive run-rules

Infielder+Jack+Little+slides+to+third+base+during+a+game+on+March+26%2C+2023.

Madeline Bell

Infielder Jack Little slides to third base during a game on March 26, 2023.

Baseball swept the University of Massachusetts Minutemen on March 24-26, closing them out in a three-game series on March 24-26. The visitors from the Atlantic 10 came into the series 3-9 overall, garnering two wins against Navy and a lone win against Penn early in the season.

Game 1:

Kicking off the weekend with a crowd of 5,496 schoolchildren for Kids’ Education Day, Wichita State beat Massachusetts 12-2 in seven innings.

Clark Candiotti started on the mound for the Shockers and allowed one run in the first inning and six hits over six innings. His record is now 2-2.

Left-handed pitcher Caden Favors allowed one run and two hits as he pitched the seventh inning.

Nine different Shockers contributed to scoring. Chuck Ingram was 3-3 at the plate with three hits and three runs.

Juniors Brock Rodden and Garrett Pennington both put up two runs and one RBI. Rodden had two hits and Pennington had one.

Game 2:

Peyton Tolle improved his perfect record on the mound to 5-0 as Wichita State completed their second run-rule, 12-2 against UMass.

Pitcher #49 Payton Tolle throws at a UMass batter on Saturday. Tolle pitched for 6 innings and took the win for his pitching record, now 5-0. (Kristy Mace)

He pitched 6 innings and had six strikeouts while allowing two hits and two runs.

The Minutemen scored in the second and sixth innings. Nolan Tichy hit a solo shot to left center for the first run and Carter Hanson hit an RBI single to right field, scoring  Ryan Coleman.

Both teams hit a combined six home runs with the Shockers hitting five of the six.

Ingram hit a single home run and Tolle hit a double in the first inning. 

Rodden hit two home runs this game with a double in the fourth inning and a single in the sixth. Pennington joined the party by hitting a home run in the sixth. 

Rodden and Pennington both lead the team with six home runs a piece. Ingram and Tolle are tied for second with four each.

Game 3:

Seven was the magic number of the weekend as the Shockers were able to defeat the Minutemen in another seven inning run-rule 14-2.

Ingram continued his hot weekend in this one, going 3-4 at bat with one run and two RBIs.

The Shocker baseball team played UMass on March 26 at Eck Stadium and won with a score of 14 to 2 in the last game of the series. (Madeline Bell)

Sophomore lefty Jace Miner got his first win on the mound of the season as relief for starter Grant Adler. 

Adler pitched four innings and allowed five hits and two runs.

UMass’ two runs came in the first and fifth innings. Mike Gervasi hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Zack Zaetta in the first. Zaetta was responsible for the Minutemen’s second run in the fifth as well when he hit a single to right field that brought Tichy home.

The Shockers lit up the scoreboard in the sixth inning, scoring nine of their 14 runs in this time. A Pennington RBI single allowed Rodden and Ingram to score the first runs of the inning.

Five singles from the team resulted in six of their runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Little scored on an error from shortstop Zaetta to finish out the Shockers scoring run.

 

The team will play against Oklahoma at Riverfront Stadium on March 28 at 6 p.m. There are still tickets available for purchase and you can listen to the game here. The Shockers won their first matchup against the Sooners this season in Eck Stadium 6-2.

Baseball will then go on the road to open conference play against Cincinnati in a three-game series. This is the last time the Shockers will play the Bearcats in the regular season before Cincinnati heads to the Big 12 this summer.