April 30, 2011
Box Score
Photo Gallery
The River Hawk baseball club split Saturday's double-header with American International at LeLacheur Park, falling 3-1 in the opener before winning 7-0 late.
UMass Lowell moves to 33-8 on the season and 16-6 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets become 16-22 with the split and 10-12 in Northeast-10 action.
In the early game, starter Garrett Cole (Manchester, N.H.) settled down after the first two outs, striking out the next five batters--including the side in order in the second inning.
The River Hawks responded with the day's first run in the bottom of the first inning. Matt Jacobs (Hudson, Mass.) led off with a double to center and advanced to third on an error. Sean Burns (Colchester, Vt.) then hit a sacrifice fly to plate Jacobs and take a 1-0 lead.
The tide would eventually turn into the Yellow Jackets' favor as they chipped away at Cole for three runs in the middle innings. Mike Tranghese (Springfield, Mass.) and Cam MacDonald (Weymouth, Mass.) each raked RBI singles in the third, while Anthony Arrichiello (Yonkers, N.Y.) hit a one-run double in the sixth.
UMass Lowell's offense threatened to break open the score several times in the game, but came up short in each opportunity. In total, the River Hawks left 11 runners on bases.
Despite a strong performance, Cole received his first loss of the season to fall to 4-1. Cole completed eight innings, allowed six hits, three runs--two earned--and walked one. He also struck out a season-high 10. Dallas Nunes (Easton, Mass.) pitched a scoreless ninth and fanned a pair. 
After game one, members of the 2001 UMass Lowell baseball team were honored on the field. Led by coach Jim Stone, the River Hawks reached their first-ever College World Series.
In the late game, the River Hawks handed their pitcher a three-run lead in the second inning. Among the key hits, Mark Sanborn (Hopkinton, Mass.) hit a one-run double that was aided by the sun and Pat Devlin (Tewksbury, Mass.) hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center.
Catcher Rob Noe (Lynnfield, Mass.) padded the lead in the third, lining a two-run single into right field. Noe then scored on a throwing error during the next play.
Starter Vinny DePierro (Tewksbury, Mass.) flirted with trouble, but escape unharmed for his fourth win of the season. DePierro threw seven shutout innings, allowed four hits, one walk and struck out seven. The lefty hasn't allowed a run since Mar. 26, a streak of 17 consecutive shutout innings.
In mirror image of Friday, relievers Mike Sloban (Merrimac, Mass.) and Dustin Ramey (Kingston, N.H.) closed out the game with two scoreless innings. Sloban retired AIC in the eighth using just nine pitches.
After playing three games in two days, the River Hawks will have a short break before hosting Merrimack on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for Senior Night.
