Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
LOWELL, Mass.- The UMass Lowell dropped a pair of one-run games to the University of Maine, 5-4 and 3-2, in the long awaited 2014, Division I, home opener Saturday afternoon, at LeLacheur Park.
 
After 20 games in various locations, the doubleheader was the first time the club has played in Lowell.  The losses dropped UMass Lowell to 10-12 overall, and 3-4 in America East Conference play. The River Hawks have lost eight one run games this season.  Maine improved to 12-19 and 3-5 in conference action.  
 
"(Those were) two games that could have gone either way," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Ken Harring. "(We) played better in game two but couldn't come up with the hit we needed.  (Maine centerfielder) Colin Gay made a heck of a play, (in the 8^th inning,) on a ball that would have won the game for us, but that is baseball."
 
In game one, the Black Bears took the early lead, scoring three runs, two unearned, in the top of the first inning. Troy Black hit a sacrifice fly, Alex Calbick and RBI double and Scott Heath knocked in a run on a single to right field.
 
The River Hawks cut the lead to one in the bottom of the third. Junior Matthew Sanchez (Sunrise, Fla.) drilled a triple down the right field line scoring sophomore Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass.) Sanchez later scored when junior Danny Mendick (Rochester, N.Y.) bounced into a fielders' choice.  
 
Maine upped the lead to 5-2 in the top of sixth after a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Salcedo and single by Shane Bussey.
 
In the bottom of the eighth Consolmagno drilled a two-out, two run double to right field to make it a one-run game, but that's where it ended.  Maine Charlie Butler closed the door, getting the final four outs to seal the Black Bear win.
 
Senior pitcher Shane Beauchemin (Manchester, N.H.) pitched seven innings, allowing three earned runs, and ten hits and one walk. The loss evened his record at 2-2.
 
The Black Bears' junior Tommy Lawrence threw 123 pitches in 7.1 innings and earned the win, 3-4 on the season. Lawrence gave up 10 hits, four runs, and struck out nine River Hawks.  

The second game followed a similar script.  Maine took an early lead and the River Hawks worked to battle back.   The Black Bears, thanks to Troy Black's RBI double, grabbed a 1-0 lead.  The visitors made it 2-0 on a Jonathan Salcedo RBI single in the second

The River Hawks did not go quietly.  A wild pitch and a Consolmagno single put two runs on the home side of the scoreboard in the fifth inning, 2-2. 

UMass Lowell threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth but Maine centerfielder Colin Gay made a highlight reel catch to rob junior Kelly Rooney (Upton, Mass.) of a hit and keep the score knotted at two.  The inning ended with the River Hawks leaving three stranded on the base paths.
 
Gay was twice a hero.  His catch had kept the game even and in the ninth inning he crossed the plate with what proved to be the winning run on a Shane Bussey two-out single.

UMass Lowell starter senior Mike Calzetta (Lawrence, Mass.) pitched 6.1 innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts and earned a no-decision. Sophomore Thulani Denaro (Acton, Mass.) took the loss and falls to 2-1.

The Black Bear's Burk FitzPatrick earned his first win of the season and Butler picked up his second save of the day, fifth of the season.

The same two clubs will meet tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at LeLacheur Park.