 "Photo: Michael Phillis/Collegian")
BOSTON - After yesterday's Beanpot Championship game against Boston College, UMass coach Mike Stone said he was disappointed that he didn't receive more offensive production after his team scored three runs in the first inning. It didn't matter - Mike Dicato was pitching. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before being relieved by Mitchell Eilenberg after 8 1/3 innings. Although Dicato couldn't complete the no-hitter, he was nothing short of brilliant through the first eight innings and picked up his second win of 2008. "I realized in the middle of the ballgame that I wasn't sure if I hadn't let up any hits, but I tried to just block it out and just not think about it at all," Dicato said. The strategy seemed to work as the junior routinely kept BC's batters off balance throughout the game.
Dicato retired 12 of the first 13 batters, with Sam Shaughnessy (son of Dan Shaughnessy from The Boston Globe) being the only base runner to reach (walk). In the next inning, Dicato allowed Mickey Wiswall to reach first base on a walk but quickly responded by inducing a double play on the next at bat before striking out the final batter of the inning. Even when he surrendered the first Eagle hit of the game in the ninth inning, it was a bloop single by Tony Sanchez that fell in between the right fielder, center fielder and second baseman. Mike Donato, Brian Baudinet and Adam Tempesta all came within a couple of yards of reaching the pop up, but it was placed perfectly by the BC catcher and ended Dicato's bid to keep the opposition hitless. After a fielder's choice and another single, Eilenberg relieved Dicato and prevented the Eagles from tying the game, but it was certainly a memorable day for Dicato.
While no Minuteman could get to Sanchez's ball, Dicato received plenty of defensive help throughout the game, something that cannot be said of every UMass game this season. The defensive effort was highlighted by Donato's over-the-shoulder catch in the sixth inning that would have resulted in extra bases for Shaughnessy, possibly a triple. Had Shaughnessy reached, the Eagles would have had a man on second or third with no outs and a chance to get on the scoreboard. Dicato, one of four Malden Catholic High School graduates on the team, struggled last season for the Minutemen. He posted an 0-7 record with a 6.17 earned run average and also allowed a team-high seven home runs. However, he's shared more success this season and currently has a 2-1 record with a 2.96 ERA in 2008, including 6 1/3 shutout innings against Harvard in the first round of the Beanpot. He also is yet to allow a home run. "I think it's more of a mental state with him," catcher Bryan Garrity said of Dicato's improvement from last season to this season. "You know a guy gets on and he relaxes now and I think in the past … it seemed like he'd go a couple innings, he'd pitch great and then maybe a runner would get on and he'd get a little flustered. I think he's relaxed a lot more mentally and he knows that he can get the next guy out." When looking at the box score, it appears that Dicato struggled with walks in yesterday's victory but that statistic can be deceiving. He walked six in the game but only three of these came in the first seven innings. Dicato walked one in the eighth and two more in the ninth when fatigue began to set in. If Dicato can pitch the remainder of the season with anywhere near the success of yesterday, no one's going to be complaining about his walks. Mike Connors can be reached at mjconnor@student.umass.edu.
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