LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (14-19, 6-5 AE) took the weekend series 2-1 over the Maine Black Bears (8-22, 4-7 AE) with a 14-9 victory in Sunday’s finale at LeLacheur Park.
Senior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) went 3-4 with four RBIs, one run and two walks while sophomore Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) went 3-6, including his fourth homer of the year, to go with two runs and two RBIs. Juniors Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) added two hits each as the River Hawks posted 15 hits against the Black Bears.
Senior Zach Fortuna (Newburyport, Mass.) earned the win to improve to 3-0 after 1.0 inning of work with one strikeout. Graduate student Miles Cota (Hampstead, NC) got the start and went 5.0 strong innings with three strikeouts. Fellow graduate student Frankie Venice (Lyndhurst, N.J.) came in for the ninth and struck out two to seal the vicotry.
Maine took the lead in the first inning before Cota ended the frame with back-to-back strikeouts. The defense turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the second frame and bring the offense back to the plate. Carlos Martinez hit a leadoff double to right field before moving to third on a groundout. Conor Kelly singled to left field and scored Martinez to tie the game in the bottom of the second.
The Black Bears jumped back in front in the third behind a two-run homer to right field. Cota recorded his third strikeout of the afternoon to end the inning with River Hawks trailing by two. Graduate student Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) and freshman Ryan Strand (Goffstown, N.H.) picked up hits to put two on before Brandon Fish hit one up the middle to score Proto and make it a one-run game.
After a scoreless fifth from Cota, the River Hawks loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. A double play ended the frame, leaving three runners stranded with the hosts still trailing by one. Freshman James Capellupo (Hilton, N.Y.) entered the game for the sixth as Cota finished with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. Maine scored two runs with two outs to push the lead three.
Conor Kelly hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth before advancing to third on a groundout. Kelly came in to score on Brandon Fish’s double to center to make it a two-run game. The River Hawks cut the lead to one after senior Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.) drove in Fish from second with a single to left field. Maine tallied one in the seventh to push the lead to 6-4.
Brandon Fish was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score one, making it a one-run game once again. Hernandez and senior Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) drew back-to-back walks to score two runs and put UMass Lowell in front 7-6. Fritz Genther followed with a double to right to score two before Alex Luccini’s sacrifice fly brought in Brown, stretching the lead to 10-6. Carlos Martinez drilled a two-run homer to right center as the River Hawks opened an eight-run seventh inning to take a commanding 12-6 lead.
Junior Anthony Marcano (Boston, Mass.) pitch hit in the eighth inning and doubled to left field, moving Hernandez to third. Genther followed with an RBI double down the left field line that scored both baserunners to give UMass Lowell a 14-6 lead.
Maine tacked on three runs in the ninth, but Venezia shut the door and ended the game with a strikeout. The River Hawks take the weekend series 2-1 and improve to 6-5 in conference play.
Next up, the River Hawks visit Merrimack on Tuesday before heading to Smithfield, Rhode Island for a weekend series against the league-leading Bryant Bulldogs.
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