Box Score


UMass Lowell baseball kept the flicker of its post season hopes burning bright with a 16-hit attack, a strong pitching performance and a 6-3 victory over Bentley University, Thursday night, at LeLacheur Park.
 
UMass Lowell improves to 28-19 and 9-10 in the Northeast Division of the Northeast-10 Conference.  Bentley drops to 26-18 / 13-6. 
 
The River Hawks are part of a three-way battle for the fourth and final playoff spot.  UMass Lowell trails fourth place Merrimack by a game and a half with two games to play.  Stonehill is a half game back of the River Hawks and plays Merrimack three times before the season ends this weekend. 
 
UMass Lowell and second place Bentley will play single games Saturday and Sunday.  The River Hawks must sweep the Falcons to have any chance of post season play and must get some help from others.  Bentley is a half game back of first place Franklin Pierce University. 
 
The story on cool night with a threat of rain was the senior righthander on the River Hawk mound.  Taylor Robinson (Haverhill, Mass.) turned in a gutty 136-pitch complete game.
 
“I knew it was a must win,” says Robinson.  “It was the first time all season my curveball was working.  I only threw it four or five times, but those four or five times were huge.”
 
“When he needed to make pitches, he made the pitches he needed to make,” according to UMass Lowell Baseball Coach Ken Harring.  “He did just what a senior is supposed to do.”
 
Robinson allowed eight hits and three earned runs.  He walked four and struck out five.  When Robinson is at his best he allows hitters to get themselves out and that's just what is did.  He got 11 ground balls accounting for 13 outs as the River Hawk infield turned two double plays.  Flyballs accounted for nine outs.
 
“Everything was working, my change was working, my two seam was running, my four seam was moving,” says Robinson.  “All you have to do is throw to the hitters and let the fielders play.”
 
“He pitches to contact,” says Harring.  “He kept the ball down in the zone and when he does that, he's pretty tough to hit.”
 
Bentley took a lead their first turn at bat, but it was then that Robinson may have done his best pitching.
 
The Falcons loaded the bases with nobody out, but managed only one run as Robinson bore down and got a double play and a flyball to end the inning.
 
“To get out of that first inning allowing just one run; that's a win,” says Harring.  “We won that inning.”
 
Indeed the River Hawks did just that as they came up with two runs in the home half of the first.  Sophomore Jimmy Ricoy (Lowell, Mass.) and sophomore Matthew Sanchez (Sunrise, Fla.) drove in the runs with singles.
 
UMass Lowell added two more runs in the second and single runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
 
The top third of the River Hawk lineup did most of the damage banging out 10 hits producing four runs and four runs driven in.  Freshman Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass.) led the way with four hits, two runs scored and two driven in.  Sophomore Geoff DeGroot (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and senior James Katsiroubas (Milton, Mass.) had three apiece scored a run and picked up an RBI.
 
“DeGroot is the catalyst at the top, Consolmagno has terrific at bats and Katsiroubas is as good a run producer as there is in this league.” Says Harring.  “We put a lot of balls in play.”
 
“I like to sit 'dead-red,'” says Consolmagno.  “See fastball, adjust to the curve and fight off pitches until I get something good to hit.”
 
UMass Lowell has struggled to get big hits at key points in the ballgame at times this year, but that was not the case on Thursday night.
 
“Hitting is contagious,” says Harring.  “You have a few good at bats and everybody gets locked in.”
 
UMass Lowell faces Bentley twice more this weekend.  The two meet Saturday night at 7:00pm and Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm.