May 19, 2011
Box Score
The River Hawks let a late lead slip through their fingers in the ninth inning as they lost to Franklin Pierce, 4-3, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament East Regional in Rindge, NH on Thursday afternoon.
The loss bumps UMass Lowell (36-13) to the loser's bracket where it will face Dowling on Friday at 11 a.m. to determine the first club to be eliminated from postseason play.
The Ravens threatened early, but couldn't convert thanks to stellar pitching by Jack Leathersich (Beverly, Mass.). Among his harrowing performances, Franklin Pierce put runners on second and third with no outs--only to watch Leathersich fan the next three batters in order.
The consistent pressure by the Ravens finally wore UMass Lowell down in a messy fifth inning. Franklin Pierce scored once on an error, and then plated a second runner via a sacrifice fly by Zach Mathieu (Derry, N.H.).
The River Hawks pushed their first run across in the seventh inning as Sean Burns (Colchester, Vt.) and Cam Kneeland (Rowley, Mass.) connected on back-to-back hits to put a pair of runners on with no outs. Matt Jacobs (Hudson, Mass.) then executed a well-placed sacrifice bunt, moving the runners over. With one out, Dylan Flynn (Upton, Mass.) hit an RBI ground out to first base, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
UMass Lowell finally turned the tables in the eighth inning with some two-out magic. Connor Burnham (Harwich, Mass.) knocked a base hit, then stole second and advanced to third on an error. Right fielder Pat Devlin (Tewksbury, Mass.) then strode to the plate and with a 1-1 count, he clubbed his first home run of the season. The two run blast over the left field fence put the River Hawks on top 3-2, giving the team its first lead of the game.
After eight strong innings, Leathersich handed the ball off to closer Dustin Ramey (Kingston, N.H.). Ramey ran into trouble quickly, walking the leadoff batter in the ninth. After a groundout, Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass.) hit an RBI single to left, knotting the score at 3-3. A few batters later, Mike Munoz (Bronx, N.Y.) delivered the dagger, a one-run single down the left field line to knock UMass Lowell into the loser's bracket.
Leathersich earned a no-decision after tossing eight inning and allowing two runs--one earned. The lefty walked five, but fanned 11 batters for his record-breaking seventh 10-plus strikeout game of the season. The program's previous mark was set by David Williamson in 2002.
