May 1, 2010

Box Score

UMass Lowell baseball (27-19, 14-12 NE-10) scored a two-game sweep at American International (7-30, 4-22 NE-10) on Saturday afternoon, by scores of 8-1 and 7-0. Sophomore Cam Kneeland (Rowley, MA) exploded at the plate with three home runs and five RBI on the day.

If Merrimack College loses its last regular season conference game tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m., the River Hawks will clinch the sixth and final Northeast-10 playoff spot.

The River Hawks wasted little time in game one, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a two-run homer by Kneeland. Senior Peter Onorato (Clarence Center, NY) applied pressure with a one-out single to right field and Kneeland followed with the deep ball over the left-centerfield fence.

UMass Lowell added another run in the fifth inning on a pair of Yellow Jacket errors. Onorato found his way home on a misplayed fielder's choice to second base by Mark Sanborn (Hopkinton, MA), pushing the lead to 3-0.

American International cut the River Hawks' lead back to two in the sixth inning on an RBI double from Dan Bassani (Naples, FL)--the only run they would allow all day.

UMass Lowell boosted its lead to 5-1 after drawing a pair of two-out bases loaded walks by Zac Roy (Lowell, MA) and Monte Marrocco Jr. (Winchester, MA).

To put the game out of reach, Kneeland hit his second two-run home run of the game as apart of a three-run ninth inning as UMass Lowell cruised to the 8-1 victory.

Dustin Ramey (Kingston, NH) led the charge on the mound with seven-plus innings of one-run baseball to improve his record to 7-4. Ramey allowed six hits, struck out five batters and walked just one. Matt Monico (Tewksbury, MA) relieved Ramey in the eighth to quietly and quickly close out the contest.

For the Yellow Jackets, game two must started off like Groundhog Day as Kneeland hit a two-out solo home run in the top of the first inning. The River Hawks took a 1-0 lead on the sophomore's third home run of the day and fifth of the season.

Marrocco Jr. scored a run in the third inning on a two-out bases loaded wild pitch. UMass Lowell was unable to capitalize further, but moved forward with the 2-0 advantage.

UMass Lowell added three more runs in third and fourth innings. Among the key hits were an RBI double by Taylor von Kriegenbergh (Hopkinton, MA) and RBI triple from Marrocco Jr., who also scored on a throwing error during the play.

Luke Wallace (Yorktown Heights, NY) joined the hit parade in the fifth with an RBI single up the middle and Connor Burnham (Harwich, MA) scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to push the River Hawks' lead to 7-0.

Starting pitcher Ted Haley (Cranston, RI) was dominant through seven innings, shutting down the American International offense. Haley held the Yellow Jackets to just four hits and two walks while striking out nine. Dallas Nunes (Easton, MA) took over in the eighth to keep home plate clean for two innings, allowing just two hits.

If UMass Lowell can obtain the sixth-seed for the NE-10 playoffs, they will likely face either Franklin Pierce or New Haven in the quarterfinal round.