Game 1 (PDF) | Game 2 (PDF) | Highlights

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team finished their season with a doubleheader sweep at LeLacheur Park, beating LIU Brooklyn 6-4 in the opener before a 10-8 victory in the season finale.
 
The River Hawks finish the season with an overall record of 17-26 with a 10-10 mark in their second season in the America East Conference.
 
The five seniors in the River Hawk lineup each finished their finale in proper fashion. After they each picked up a hit Head Coach Ken Harring swapped them out to applause from friends and family in attendance.
 
In the opener, senior shortstop Danny Mendick (Rochester, N.Y.) smashed his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, over the fence in left field and knocked in three RBI. He added the go-ahead RBI in the third inning, lining a single past the LIU third baseman to bring Kelly Rooney (Upton, Mass.) around.
 
In his final start as a River Hawk, senior Kevin Veilleux (Manchester, N.H.) picked up his fifth win of the year. He danced his way out of a jam in the opening inning, giving up a leadoff double before walking the next two batters. The righty would strikeout the next two Blackbirds before getting Andrew Turner to fly out to right field to end the inning unharmed. The senior kept LIU scoreless until the third inning when the Blackbirds tied the game at two with a pair of two out runs.
 
The River Hawks added three runs in the fifth, scoring on a sacrifice bunt from Geoff DeGroot (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) before RBI singles from Matthew Sanchez (Sunrise, Fla.) and Jimmy Ricoy (Lowell, Mass.).
 
The Blackbirds scored three runs off Christian Lavoie (Hopkinton, Mass.) in the opening frame of the second game before adding two more in the third. The River Hawks responded with a run from Mendick in the first and added their second run courtesy of a double to right from Zack Tower (Auburn, Mass.).
 
A three-run third inning pulled the home club even at five before they pulled ahead with three more in the fourth. Sophomore Ian Strom (Hopedale, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to left to score the go-ahead run before catcher Brice Erickson (Leominster, Mass.) slapped a double to right to bring another run in.
 
Strom added another RBI and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to put the River Hawks up 10-7.
 
The River Hawks currently stand third in the AE standings and can finish no worse than fourth after this weekends conference action.