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LOWELL, Mass. – Looking to build on last season's success, the UMass Lowell baseball team is ready to leadoff the 2015 season with a four-game set in Atlanta against Georgia State on February 20^th.
 
The River Hawks turned heads in their first season in the America East, finishing the campaign 20-22 overall and 10-10 in league play which was good for third in the standings.
 
KEYS TO SUCCESS
In order to have another successful year, Harring believes that his team needs to be ready for stiffer competition and teams who are better prepared to face them.
 
"Year two is going to be a little more difficult," said Harring. "Everybody knows who we are now and there will be no secrets, there will be no unknown, everybody has played us." We have to be prepared for that because nobody is going to take us lightly, but to build off that year one, we know how to win."
 
Headlined by America East All-Conference selections Matthew Sanchez (Sunrise, Fla.), Ian Strom (Hopedale, Mass.) and Danny Mendick, (Rochester, Mass.), the River Hawks will rely on a lineup that returns eight of nine batters from last years squad. As a whole the River Hawks hit .264 with a .343 slugging percentage and .344 on-base percentage in their first season as a member of the America East Conference.
 
The growth and adjustment of the freshmen to the collegiate game will also be vital to the team's success with eight members of the pitching staff entering their first season.
 
NEW FACES
16 newcomers join the River Hawks for the 2015 season with eight new pitchers joining the pitching staff. Harring expects righties Nick Kuzia (Seymour, Conn.) and Andrew Ryan (Rochester, Mass.) along with southpaw Brendan Shea (Belmont, Mass.) to anchor the rookie group.
 
"We added some arms we think can help right away and a few guys that are going to be in the development stage," said Harring. "They are all going to have the opportunity. We play 54 games so everybody is going to have an opportunity to contribute so we'll see what they are made of."
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Seniors Matthew Sanchez and Danny Mendick along with sophomore Ian Strom will look to improve upon their 2014 campaign's that finished with the trio being named to all-conference teams. Sanchez and Strom were named to America East All-Conference first team after hitting .357 and .290, respectively. Mendick was selected to the second team after hitting .314 with five homeruns and 34 RBI.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Harring and his club face a challenging schedule that begins with 16 road games before their home opener on March 19th against Yale. Overall the team will play 33 games on the road and 22 in the confines of LeLacheur Park. The River Hawks will face a trio of NCAA Tournament Regional qualifiers on the road when they travel to Dallas Baptist, the Heartland Conference Tournament champion, Bryant, the Northeast Conference Tournament champion, and America East representative Binghamton.
 
The River Hawks begin the conference portion of the schedule with three games at home against Albany on March 21-22.