MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team fell to Massachusetts on Thursday afternoon, 10-6, in the opener of a three-game series at Smithson Field.  Nine Hawks chalked up hits on the day, with Chris Hueth's 3-for-5 performance leading the way.

Massachusetts (14-30 overall, 11-14 Atlantic 10) put the first two runners on base in the first inning and took a 1-0 lead on a two-out singled by Dylan Begin.

Saint Joseph's (32-13 overall, 17-7 Atlantic 10) took the lead in the bottom half of the inning, as Collin Forgey reached on an error and Tommy Cunningham followed with a home run to left, his fifth of the season, to make it a 2-1 lead.

The Hawks extended the advantage in the third when Hueth hit a titanic solo home run to left for his third of the year and a 3-1 lead.  Brian O'Keefe followed with an RBI single in the fifth to score Tim Craig and push the edge to 4-1.

The Minutemen roared back for five runs in the top of the seventh, benefitting from four hits and three walks, to take a 6-4 lead.

Forgey led off the eighth with his third longball of the season, an opposite-field blast to right that chased UMass starter Conor LeBlanc from the game, but Mike Geannellis hit a two-out grand slam in the ninth that widened the margin to 10-5.

Cody Silverman led off the home half of the ninth with a double, scoring two batters later on a groundout, but the Minutemen were able to close out the victory without further damage.

LeBlank earned the win, allowing five runs, three earned, on nine hits in seven-plus innings.  Daniel Thorpe suffered his first defeat of the season, falling to 9-1, while DJ Jauss earned his second save of the year.

Due to the unfavorable weather forecast in the Philadelphia area, tomorrrow's game has been pushed up to 11:00 a.m. at Smithson Field.