Box Score (PDF) | Interview

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Andrew Ryan (Rochester, Mass.) threw eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts, as the UMass Lowell (5-3) baseball team blanked the Santa Clara Broncos (6-7), 3-0, in the series opener Friday night.

"It was a good ballgame all around for us," said Head Coach Ken Harring. "When you get pitching like that in a battle of number ones it's easy to see why Andrew Ryan is a true number one in our conference. He settles the game down and there is never any panic with him, he just goes on to the next pitch and shows why he's our Saturday starter in league play."

Both starting pitchers only allowed three hits each through the first four innings and were able to escape jams in the third inning to keep the game scoreless. The River Hawks had an early chance to break open the game with a bases loaded opportunity with no outs in the frame but Bronco starter Mitchell White was able to escape unscathed.

The hosts put their first two batters on in the third and had second and third with one outs, but Ryan struck out the next batter and got the third out on a fly out to right.

The River Hawks broke up the tie in the top of the fifth, spearheaded by Steve Passatempo (Medford, Mass.) reaching first on an error with two outs. Chris Sharpe (Burlington, Mass.) sent the second pitch to right field, where the sinking liner got misplayed by Grant Meylan, allowing Passatempo to come all the way around from first to score.

Ryan executed the perfect shutdown inning in the next frame, striking out the side and pushing his total to six through five innings.

Santa Clara threatened in the bottom of the sixth, but Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass.) ended the threat throwing the runner out at home on the sacrifice fly attempt.

Michael Young (Chester, N.J.) doubled the buffer to 2-0 in the top of the eighth, sending the ball off the second base bag to score Zack Tower (Auburn, Mass.) for the freshman's first career RBI. Oscar Marchena (Miami, Fla.) poked a single through the ride side to score Young to increase the lead to 3-0.

The righty from Rochester, Mass. could not finish off the complete game, but Brendan Long (Naples, Fla.) came in and retired three batters in a row with two men on for his third save. Ryan has not allowed a run since the first inning of his first appearance of the season, a streak of 21 1/3 innings pitched.

Ben Prada (Laurel, Md.) stole a pair of bases, and Consolmagno had a game-high three hits and Marchena recorded two.

The two teams will face off in a doubleheader tomorrow (3/12) with game one starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT).