 "Photo: Michael Phillis/Collegian")
Travis Munsey couldn't do it all on his own Saturday, but he tried.
The senior captain came up big in the Massachusetts baseball team's 5-4 win over George Washington in the first game of Saturday's double-header. His lone RBI in Game 2, however, wasn't enough to take the rubber match and head into the Beanpot on a winning note.
The Minutemen (9-15, 4-8 Atlantic 10) dropped two of three to the Colonials (12-23, 5-7 A-10) over the weekend. UMass plays Northeastern tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in the opening game of the 2007 Beanpot Tournament in Lynn, Mass.
Munsey's bases-loaded sacrifice bunt with one out in the bottom of the eighth allowed catcher Bryan Garrity to score the game-winning run in Game 1. The suicide-squeeze attempt worked perfectly, and senior Bryan Adamski came in to pick up his first save of the season.
"The first game [on Saturday] was good," UMass coach Mike Stone said. "[Jim] Cassidy pitched very well. He kept us in the ballgame, we got something going, and came from behind. It was a good win."
Cassidy allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits and five walks in eight innings of work in Game 1 of the doubleheader. He also struck out five batters and picked up his third win of the season.
Adamski, the usual first baseman, got the call from the bullpen over the team's saves leader, Aaron Smith (4). Adamski picked up his second win of the year last Tuesday at Connecticut, and his four innings of shutout baseball against the Huskies was the main determinant in giving him the ball with the game on the line Saturday.
"Adamski threw the ball really well against UConn," Garrity said. "Coach wanted to bring him in, and if he struggled at that point, then you can bring in Smith, who's reliable too.
"But I think right now Adamski's throwing the ball well, and he was coming off a big win the other day, so we went with him."
Senior shortstop Lou Proietti gave UMass some much-needed momentum heading into Saturday's games by driving in three runs on a bases-clearing double with one out in the bottom of the ninth in Friday's series opener. The Minutemen lost 9-4, but Proietti's shot to right-center gave his team a reason to be optimistic.
Munsey's game-winning sacrifice bunt didn't produce the same result in Game 2 on Saturday, as George Washington took a 6-1 win to close out the series.
Munsey got his bat going early, as he lined an RBI single up the middle that scored Bill Rankin, giving UMass a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
George Washington's Faizan Choudhry silenced the Minuteman bats the next five innings, allowing only two more hits in a total of seven innings pitched.
UMass starter Mike Dicato was cruising through the first four innings, but disaster struck in the fifth.
"He was locating well," Garrity said. "He was mixing his pitches up, he was throwing his knuckle-curve, curve, change, fastball at any time and any sequence. It just seemed like he hit a wall."
The sophomore had allowed only one hit going into the fifth. But two walks, two hit batters and a wild pitch later, the Colonials were leading 4-1 and Dicato's day was finished.
"I thought Mike Dicato had good stuff, then he started hitting a few people and walking a few people," Stone said. "He has to pitch better with people on base."
On a controversial play with bases loaded and UMass still leading 1-0, Dicato's 1-2 pitch with two outs to GW's RBI leader Michael Parker hit his hand and was originally called a foul ball off the knob of the bat.
After the umpires talked it over, the ruling was overturned and Parker was allowed first base, scoring the tying run. Three pitches later, to GW cleanup hitter Charlie Kruer, Dicato threw a wild pitch in the dirt that got past Garrity, scoring the go-ahead run.
Kruer added insult to injury as he drove in two more runs on a single to right field. Dicato was then pulled in favor of Smith. He picked up his fifth loss of the season.
"We had not enough offense and too many walks," Garrity said. "Those are free bases, bases that we can't afford to give up."
Tomorrow's Beanpot game was originally scheduled to be played tonight, but the poor field conditions in Lynn, Mass. moved it back a day. The game against Sacred Heart has been postponed, and no make-up date has been determined.
Danny Picard can be reached at dpicard@student.umass.edu. Log onto the Daily Collegian's sports blog at dailycollegiansports.blogspot.com for more coverage of all UMass sports.
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