AMHERST, Mass. - The top of the batting order continued to shine for the Hartford baseball team, but the Hawks fell for a fourth straight game, losing at Massachusetts, 14-6. Mike Aldrich and Jason Freethey each drove in two runs, but the Hawks could not slow the Minutemen bats, as UMass built up a 12-2 lead through the fifth inning.

Anthony Mannuccia took the loss for the Hawks (3-7), dropping to 0-3 in his freshman campaign. Isaac Oakley earned the win for UMass (1-9), which was coming off a season-opening southern swing through Oklahoma and Virginia.

The Minutemen touched Mannuccia for four runs in the first and three more in the second. UMass would score in each of the first five innings before freshman Brian Rice, who came in to shut the door in the fifth inning, induced a double play to help keep them off the board in the sixth.

Hartford's scoring opened in the fourth inning. With one out, Matt Walker smoked a single back up the middle. After Erik Figueredo reached on a throwing error which pushed both runners up a base, Walker took advantage of an Oakley wild pitch to scamper home with the Hawks' first run.

In the fifth, senior designated hitter Mike Amendola was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. Junior catcher Andy Drexel followed by mashing a double into the gap in right center. Aldrich converted another Hawk run with an RBI grounder to third.

With the score 12-2 heading into the seventh inning, the Hawks attempted to mount a last-ditch rally. Walks from Aldrich and sophomore Victor Santana preceded a single from freshman Jared Canney to load the bases. Ben Hart, relieving Aaron Zaleznik, was greeted by a long drive from junior Jason Freethey into deep left field. The shot got over the head of Massachusetts' left fielder and Freethey trotted into second with a double, scoring Aldrich and Santana.

The Hawks would add two more in the eighth. Sophomore Andrew Siano, the Hawks' leadoff hitter, got things started with a single to right. Amendola followed with a blooper down the left field line that Rich Graef was able to corral in time to hold the Hawks' senior to a single. A sharp single from Drexel loaded the bases, and after another call to the bullpen, Aldrich knocked his second RBI groundout of the day to score Siano. Junior Rodger Wilmot followed by doing the same as his slow roller left UMass with no option of turning two and allowed Amendola to score.

Massachusetts would put the game out of reach in the eighth inning with two more runs.

The game marked the beginning of a busy stretch for the Hawks, as they will now return home for a single game tomorrow against in-state rival Fairfield. Hartford will play six games at Fiondella Field over the next six days, including a doubleheader with Sacred Heart on Friday, a twin bill with Harvard on Sunday and a single game with Connecticut on Tuesday.