April 10, 2011

Box Score

The River Hawks fell behind early and were never able to rebound, falling at Stonehill College on Sunday afternoon, 7-3. Shortstop Cam Kneeland (Rowley, Mass.) provided some pop in the struggling offense, hitting a pair of doubles and scoring a run.

Suffering its third consecutive loss, UMass Lowell baseball stumbles to 22-6 overall this season and 9-4 in Northeast-10 action. The Skyhawks improved to 23-8 on the campaign and 8-3 in conference play.

The River Hawks found themselves in a 6-0 hole after two innings as Stonehill roughed up starter Dustin Ramey (Kingston, N.H.). The Skyhawks knocked three hits, drew two walks and scored six earned runs in the first two frames.

Among the big hits, Rich McHugh (Pembroke, Mass.) hit a two-run triple to right-center and Scott Hackett (Bangor, Maine) clubbed a three-run homer.

The River Hawks worked to slowly chip away at the deficit, but the resurgence came too late. Kneeland scored in the sixth on a throwing error by the shortstop and Connor Burnham (Harwich, Mass.) hit an RBI double in the seventh. Catcher Rob Noe (Lynnfield, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to score Sean Burns (Colchester, Vt.), but UMass Lowell would get no closer.

After Ramey departed before the start of the third, four different pitchers combined to finish the day. Geoff Fisher (Londonderry, N.H.) came in first, pitching two innings and allowing one run. Mike Sloban (Merrimac, N.H.) then tossed a pair of scoreless frames, before Tyler Toyfair (Agawam, Mass.) and Dallas Nunes (Easton, Mass.) closed out the contest.

The River Hawks will look to shake off their recent struggles on Tuesday as they host St. Michael's at LeLacheur Park for a double-header. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.