Box Score

VESTAL, N. Y. (May 4, 2014) – River Hawk bats fell silent as the UMass Lowell baseball team dropped the rubber game of the weekend series with Binghamton University, 7-3, Sunday afternoon, at Varsity Field in Vestal, N.Y.
 
 "We got beat today," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Ken Harring. "We managed just four hits, and we didn't string many together.  Binghamton swung the bats well all weekend."  
 
Four hits, all of them singles and all in different innings, does not a potent offense make.  The River Hawks dropped back to .500 at 18-18 on the season, 9-8 in the America East play. The Bearcats improved to 19-21, 10-10 in conference action.  UMass Lowell took three of the five meetings between the teams this season and sits third, a game ahead of Binghamton, in the conference standings
 
The top third of Binghamton's lineup did most of the damage.  The one-two-three hitters produced nine of the home team's 11 hits and six of their seven runs. Bearcats' second baseman Daniel Nevares was the key. He smashed a two-run homer to right in the fifth to break a 2-2 deadlock and then hit a basing clearing triple in the seventh which gave the Bearcats a commanding 7-2 lead. Nevares finished the day 3-for-4 and six RBI.
 
Binghamton jumped ahead early taking a 2-0 led in the home half of the first. After a pair of singles to start the game, Nevares knocked an RBI single to left field. Two batters later Shaun McGraw lined a sac fly to center.
 
The River Hawks would crawl back into the game in the fifth. Trailing 2-1, UMass Lowell would take advantage of a Bearcat error that allowed junior Kelley Rooney (Upton, Mass.) to reach base safely to start off the inning. After a sac bunt, and a wild pitch, junior Danny Mendick (Rochester, N.Y.) banged an RBI single to center to tie the game at two.  
Sophomore Matt Mottola (Newburyport, Mass.) had a two RBI day, going one for three with a sac fly. Mottola continues to lead the America East with a .348 batting average.
 
UMass Lowell starter senior Christian Lavoie (Hopkinton, Mass.) fell to 1-3 on the season. The right-hander pitched 5.0 allowed four earned runs, seven hits, while striking out two. Fellow senior Garrett Cole (Bedford, N.H.) went the final three innings given up three runs.    
 
Bearcats sophomore Jake Cryts gave up just a single earned run, three hits, in 7.2 innings of work to pick up his fourth win of the season. Greg Ostner closed the game, going the final 1.1 innings giving up just a single.
 
The River Hawks will have the week off before wrapping up the America East season with a three game series next weekend against the conference leaders, the University of Hartford at LeLacheur Park.