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West Hartford, Conn. – In a back and forth afternoon at Fiondella Field, the Hartford baseball team dropped an 8-7 decision to the University of Massachusetts Minutemen on Tuesday afternoon. Hartford (1-11 overall) was led by senior Andy Drexel who finished with two RBI and two runs scored, going 1-of-4 at the plate.
Hartford finished the contest with 11 hits, two more than the opposition, with James Alfonso and Trey Stover leading the contingent with three and two hits each. Alfonso and Stover amounted to the only Hawks with multiple hits in the game as six other players all finished with at least one hit. While Drexel's two RBI led the Hawks, four other players all drove in one run; Brian Hunter, Simon Kudernatsch, Brady Sheetz and Ryan Lukach.
On the mound, the Hawks used five different pitchers with sophomore lefty Zach Ferris starting for Hartford. Ferris finished three innings of work with two runs allowed on one hit and three walks. Freddy Andujar was the fourth reliever for coach Justin Blood and he would suffer the loss allowing one run to score on two hits in 1.2 innings of work. Austin Barnes also had a strong outing in relief for the Hawks, pitching 2.2 innings and allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts.
Ron Wallace was the pitcher of record for the Minutemen, despite pitching to just two batters. Wallace did allow one run on two hits in one-third inning of work. Leif Sorenson would earn the first save of the season for UMass, coming out of the pen to pitch two complete innings and only allowing one hit, while striking out two batters.
At the plate, Rob McLam led the visiting team going a perfect 3-of-3 with three RBI. Adam Picard and Anthony Serino also picked up a pair of RBI's each, while Ryan Cusick and Rich Graef both finished with two hits.
The Minutemen started the scoring off in the top of the first taking advantage of a leadoff walk to Cusick, who showed his base running abilities right away when he stole second on the next at bat. With Cusick on second, McLam sacrificed himself for the team allowing Cusick to take third, from which he was able to score on an infield groundout to the credit of Serino.
The Hawks also didn't waste time getting into the scoring column with a four-hit rally with one out in the bottom half of the first. Stover would get things started with the first hit of game, legging out a single to shortstop. Alfonso followed that up with single to left field putting runners on first and second, with both scoring on the next at bat, a double to left center field from Drexel. The fourth hit in the rally would also be a two bagger, which allowed Drexel to score from second, this hit coming as a ground rule smack to left field off the bat of Hunter.
After both teams went scoreless in the second, each traded runs in the third inning. The Minutemen saw the offense start with a single off the bat of Cusick and after advancing to second on a walk and stealing third, the second baseman scored for the second time in the game on an infield groundout to second base.
Hartford's run in the third also began as a leadoff walk, this one delivered to Drexel. The left fielder took second on an infield groundout and came around to score on a single through the right side off the pine of fellow classmate Kudernatsch.
UMass then took their first lead of the game with three runs in the top half of the fourth inning, all starting with Tom Conley being hit by a pitch. That came back to haunt the Hawks on the next at bat when Adam Picard fired a cannon over the left field fence for the two run blast, his and the Minutemen's first in 2012. Graef would then score the go ahead run in the fourth inning after legging out a bunt single to get on base. The left fielder would come around to score from second on a single to center field off the bat of McLam.
Kudernatsch would then even things up himself in the fifth inning, when after reaching base on an error on the first baseman with one out he would eventually score from first on another error, this time from the catcher. On a steal attempt for Kudernatsch the throw down was off the mark and dribbled into left center field allowing the quick legs of the Czezh Republic native to round the bases and cross the plate.
UMass quickly got that run back in the top of the sixth, once again using a leadoff walk. Nick Sanford would earn the free pass and after using wild pitches to get into scoring position scored on a sacrifice fly to center field from Cusick.
The Hawks responded by providing the second lead change of the game with two runs in the seventh inning. Hunter led off the inning with a walk, the fifth leadoff free pass of the game for either team. He worked his way around the base paths on infield groundouts from Kudernatsch and Suchy and scored easily on a three bagger from Sheetz. Sheetz was then rewarded on the next at bat, a single to center from Rob Meerman.
The final lead change of the game came in the eighth inning when UMass worked two runs across the plate using two hits. Graef began the offense with a one out single up the middle and was quickly sent into scoring position on the next at bat, a double to left center from Cusick. Both Graef and Cusick came around to score on a second straight hit to left center, this one a single from McLam.
Hartford will return to the road for a three-game series at Pittsburgh this weekend. The Hawks and Panthers are scheduled to open the series on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
