LePage Leads Huskies Past Massachusetts 13-6

BOX SCORE (.HTML)

AMHERST, Mass. (April 8, 2008) — Freshman Pierre LePage (Wolcott, Conn.) went 4-for-5 with five runs scored as the University of Connecticut baseball team defeated Massachusetts 13-6 on Tuesday afternoon at Earl Lorden Field in Amherst, Mass.

The Huskies improve their season mark to 16-15 while Massachusetts falls to 8-11 on the year. This was the second win over the Minutemen this season, as the Huskies won the match-up 4-2 on March 24 in Storrs, Conn.

The Huskies began the afternoon with a quick run in the top of the first inning as freshman LePage led off the inning with a double to right center and then scored as freshman Elliot Glynn (Los Alamitos, Calif.) followed with a double to left center. Junior Matt McDonald (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) recorded his fifth start on the mound this season, as he struck out one in three straight outs in the first inning.

UConn's third double of the game came in the second inning as freshman Mike Nemeth (Washington, N.J.) led off the inning with a two-base shot down the left field line. Nemeth then moved to third on a single through the left side of the field by junior Dale Brannon (St. Petersburg, Fla.). Senior Gordon Stevens (Vista, Calif.) recorded his seventh RBI of the year as he picked up his second sacrifice fly of the season to score Nemeth from third. Brannon later scored as LePage stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Massachusetts' catcher, Bryan Garrity. LePage scored on the next play, his team-leading 32nd run of the season as Glynn recorded his second hit and second RBI of the game with a single through the infield.

In the fifth inning, LePage singled to center field then stole second to get into scoring position for the Huskies. After senior Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa) reached base on an error, freshman Mike Olt (Branford, Conn.) recorded his seventh homerun of the season to put the Huskies up 7-0.

The Huskies added two more runs in the sixth and three in the eighth as Olt added another hit, RBI and run scored. In the ninth LePage recorded his fourth hit of the game to score Stevens, who led the inning off with a double. Massachusetts recorded a pair of runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to put some runs on the board.

Glynn finished the game with three hits and three RBIs while Olt added two hits and four RBIs. McDonald went six innings on the mound for the Huskies while allowing four hits and two runs. He also struck out six batters to improve his strikeout tally on the season to 17.

Massachusetts' starting pitcher, Jared Freni took the loss as he allowed four earned runs and 10 hits. Kyle Multner had two hits and two runs scored for the Minutemen.

UConn returns to action on Wednesday when the Huskies host Rhode Island at 3:00 p.m. at J.O. Christian Field. The game will be on tape delay on Cox Sports Television on Sunday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m.