April 29, 2011
Box Score
Photo Gallery
Cam Kneeland (Rowley, Mass.) slugged his first career grand slam as the River Hawks raced to a 12-2 win over Franklin Pierce at LeLacheur Park on Friday afternoon.
The crucial last season conference victory improved UMass Lowell's record to 32-7 overall and 15-5 in Northeast-10 action. The Ravens drop to 33-8 on the campaign and 17-4 in conference play.
Despite picking up two quick outs, the River Hawks exploded in the second inning for the tune of seven runs. Dylan Flynn (Upton, Mass.) and Connor Burnham (Harwich, Mass.) hit RBI singles while the Franklin Pierce defense committed a pair of errors. Then, with the bases load, Kneeland hit a grand slam over the left field wall. It marked his third homer in his last four at bats and his eighth RBI in the last two games. Mark Sanborn (Hopkinton, Mass.) followed a few batters later with another RBI single before the Ravens finally escaped the inning.
UMass Lowell padded the lead with another run in the third on a Sean Burns (Colchester, Vt.) RBI single to left-center to push the score to 8-0.
Franklin Pierce pushed a run across in the fifth after Isaac Wenrich (Westlawn, Pa.) hit a leadoff double and eventually came home on a wild pitch. The momentum was halted, however, as the River Hawks responded with three mores runs in the bottom half, highlighted by a two-run single by Flynn.
The teams exchanged runs in the sixth before the score would ultimately settle at 12-2.
For the day, Kneeland was 2-for-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Sanborn shined as well, collecting four hits and two RBI while Flynn totaled two hits and three runs batted in.
Starter Taylor Robinson (Haverhill, Mass.) improved to 7-1 on the mound, pitching seven innings while allowing two runs. Robinson surrendered seven hits, three walks and struck out six.
Relievers Mike Sloban (Merrimac, Mass.) and Dustin Ramey (Kingston, N.H.) each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the ballgame.
With the win in the books, the River Hawks will return to the field at 12 p.m. tomorrow afternoon for a double-header against American International.
