Box Score (PDF)

HARTFORD, Conn. – Sophomore Ian Strom (Hopedale, Mass.) knocked in the go-ahead run in the eighth, helping senior Geoff DeGroot's (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) complete game effort as the UMass Lowell baseball beat Hartford, 3-1, at Fiondella Field on Sunday.
 
DeGroot improves his record to 3-2 on the mound while the River Hawks three-game sweep ups their mark to 12-21 overall and 8-6 in the America East. The trio of losses drops the Hawks to 14-25 and 6-10 in league play.
 
"It was a complete team effort, and if you pitch and play defense like that your going to win a lot of games," said Head Coach Ken Harring. "It's like I told them in the beginning of the year, we're going to be better at the end than at the beginning, we know who we are now and guys are settling into their roles."
 
The River Hawks got to Hawks starter Brian Murphy right away after he hit leadoff hitter Matthew Sanchez (Sunrise, Fla.) and threw a wild pitch to move Sanchez over to second. Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass.) made it to second and Sanchez to third on an error by Hawks third baseman Ben Bengtson before Jimmy Ricoy (Lowell, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to center deep enough to plate Sanchez.
 
DeGroot was strong on the mound with his third straight outing with four strikeouts and retired 11 straight after his lone blemish early on. In the second inning Hawks outfielder Ryan Lukach hit a leadoff double before coming in on a wild pitch by DeGroot.
 
"Today was the best he has pitched by a lot," said Harring. "He did a good job of getting ahead of batters, and on a Sunday that's what you have to do."
 
The River Hawks broke the one-all tie in the eighth after back-to-back singles from Danny Mendick (Rochester, N.Y.) and Ricoy put runners on the corners. Strom flied an 0-2 pitch from Murphy out to left deep.
 
Sanchez singled in Luke Reynolds (Manchester, N.H.) to add an insurance run in the top of the ninth after Reynolds reached on a single to right.
 
The River Hawks return to LeLacheur Park on Wednesday for a single game against Rhode Island at 7 p.m.