Gavin Thorburn delivered the go-ahead two-out, two-run single to cap a three-run eighth inning as Siena Baseball rallied past Massachusetts to secure its first win of the young season with a 9-7 victory in the middle game of a three-game neutral site series in Aberdeen, Maryland.
The bats broke out Saturday for a Siena (1-7) squad which had entered play averaging just 1.7 runs on 4.9 hits through their first seven games, albeit the first six of which came against Power 4 pitching. The Saints offense produced three separate three-run frames on their way to posting season-highs of nine runs and 11 hits.
Siena got off a hot start with a three-run opening frame, highlighted by a two-out, two-run double from
Cole Hambly. The freshman registered a pair of hits and his first three collegiate RBI for the afternoon.
UMass (4-1) responded with five unanswered in a see-saw affair, capped by a four-run fourth to claim a 5-3 lead. Ryan Kolben delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing three run triple in the fourth.
The Saints responded right back with three runs in the ensuing half inning to go in front again at 6-5 in the fifth. The bottom of the order came through as the number six, seven, and nine hitters in Hambly,
Louis Percival, and
Joe D'Elia all delivered run-scoring hits.
In a game where 12 of the combined 16 runs scored came with two outs, the Minutemen forged back ahead one final time at 7-6 in the seventh on a two-run double from Gavin O'Brien.
But Siena, which struck first, also struck last to secure their first victory.
Matt Thorsen knotted the score on an RBI single in the seventh, and then scored along with D'Elia on the decisive hit off the bat of Thorburn
The Siena bullpen of
Ryan Lundari and
Matt Murtagh combined for five solid innings, scattering just two runs to help close out the win. The freshman Lundari went the first four in relief to earn his first collegiate win, while Murtagh got the final three outs to record the save.
The Saints will look to secure their first series victory of the young season when the teams wrap the weekend with the rubber game Sunday at noon.
