March 28, 2010
Box Score
UMass Lowell baseball (13-10, 2-5 NE-1) fell to a late innings rally by Southern New Hampshire (6-13, 1-3 NE-10) on Sunday afternoon at LeLacheur Park. The River Hawks led for seven innings, but couldn't stop the Penmen's two-run ninth inning to lose the game.
"That's as tough a loss I've had since I've been here," said head coach Ken Harring. "We've got a good team, we had chances and we just couldn't put a run across. The beauty of baseball is we have another game this week."
Jumping on the board in the bottom of the first, UMass Lowell plated two on a Cam Kneeland (Rowley, MA) double to right center, bringing home Luke Wallace (Yorktown Heights, NY) and Sean Burns (Colchester, VT).
Southern New Hampshire erased the deficit with a two-run home run from Brandon Dutch (Monroe, CN) over the left field fence in the second.
The River Hawks reclaimed the lead in the third. Kneeland walked to start the inning and, with one out, Matt Jacobs (Hudson, MA) singled to third base. After a wild pitch moved Jacobs to second, Peter Onorato (Clarence Center, NY) came through in the clutch with an opposite field double over the left fielder's head. UMass Lowell would hold the lead, 4-2, until the seventh inning.
The Penmen got one back in the seventh on a RBI double by Kevin Spatkowski (Bristol, CN).
The Southern New Hampshire comeback was completed in the top of the ninth inning. After one quick out, pitcher Matt Monico (Tewksbury, MA) was hit on the hand with a sharp ground ball back at the pitcher's mound. Monico was forced to leave the game due to injury and Ryan Stoller (Milton, MA) came in on short notice. Following the change, the Penmen plated two runs on five hits, including four infield singles, to assume the 5-4 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the River Hawks generated some offense to put Kneeland on third base with small ball tactics, but failed to bring him home as they took the loss.
Freshman Garrett Cole (Manchester, NH) pitched six and a third innings, allowing three runs and seven strikeouts. Monico surrendered one run in two innings, while Stoller allowed one and recorded two outs.
Hoping to put today's defeat behind it, UMass Lowell will host CW Post on Tuesday, before traveling to Manchester, NH to take on Southern New Hampshire again on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
