Box Score (PDF)

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – After rallying with three runs in the ninth, the UMass Lowell baseball team couldn't hang on and dropped a tough 6-5 decision to Hofstra at Mitchel Field on Monday.
 
The River Hawks (3-7) tied the score in the top of the inning when senior shortstop Danny Mendick (Rochester, N.Y.) tripled to right center to bring home Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass.) and Kelly Rooney (Upton, Mass.). Moments later, Mendick scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch with two outs.
 
Facing their third one run deficit of the ballgame, the Pride (4-8) put the first two batters on after they were hit by pitch and loaded the bases on a walk by Steve Xirinachs (San Diego, Calif.). Hofstra scored the tying run when Xirinachs hit another batter before being replaced by Tim Fallon (Huntingtown, Md.). With the bases loaded and no outs, Fallon's first throw home was a wild pitch past catcher Nick Barry (Grafton, Mass.) that brought in the winning run for the Pride.
 
Geoff DeGroot (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) got the nod for the River Hawks and went five innings, giving up six hits while allowing two earned runs and striking out three. Xirinachs picked up the loss for UML while Hofstra's Brian MacDonald picked up his first win of the season.
 
The River Hawks opened the scoring in the third inning when Consolmagno tripled to right center to bring Matthew Sanchez (Sunrise, Fla.) around to score. The Pride answered in the bottom half of the frame after Chris Weiss hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Steven Foster.
 
Consolmagno added an RBI single in the fifth and finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI while Mendick added the two game-tying RBI in the ninth. Sanchez extended his hitting streak to nine games and has reached base in all 10 games.
 
The River Hawks conclude a stretch of four games in three days against Fordham tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.