May 3, 2011

Box Score

Photo Gallery

Starter Jack Leathersich (Beverly, Mass.) struck out a career-high 15 batters as he mowed down the Merrimack Warriors in a 2-0 River Hawk win at LeLacheur Park on Tuesday night.

The narrow victory boosts UMass Lowell baseball's record to 34-8 overall and 17-6 in conference play. The loss drops Merrimack to 13-25 and 5-17 in Northeast-10.

After allowing a pair of infield singles to open the game, Leathersich settled in to strike out seven of the next nine batters, including the side in the second inning. With the singles in his rearview mirror, Leathersich retired14 consecutive batters before finally allowing a walk with two outs in the fifth.

The River Hawk offense missed out on a big inning, but still came away with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Sean Burns (Colchester, Vt.) hit an infield single to start the frame, then was moved over on a groundout. With one out, Dylan Flynn (Upton, Mass.) lined a single into right field to score Burns and take a 1-0 lead. UMass Lowell went on to load the bases with an array of singles, but a double play ended the inning prematurely.

Cam Kneeland (Rowley, Mass.) added another run in the fifth, knocking in Matt Jacobs (Hudson, Mass.) from second base for his team-leading 52nd RBI of the season.

Leathersich finished with eight innings pitched, while surrendering two hits and two walks. Closer Dustin Ramey (Kingston, N.H.) pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his first save, allowing one hit and fanning one.

Prior to first pitch, UMass Lowell honored their four graduating seniors who played their final regular season home game at LeLacheur Park. Connor Burnham (Harwich, Mass.), Burns, Felix Martinez (Miami, Fla.) and Ramey all received ovations from the crowd.

With just four regular season games remaining, the River Hawks will go out of conference tomorrow night to play at Post University for a 7 p.m. start.