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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Steve Passatempo (Medford, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI as the UMass Lowell (16-16, 4-8 AE) held on to defeat the Brown Bears (11-19, Ivy), 9-8, on Tuesday night.

"It was a battle of attrition out there," said Head Coach Ken Harring. "We did a good job battling back when they scored and we swung the bats really well today. One thru nine had really good at bats, some guys may not have gotten hits but they were productive. Our pitching wasn't perfect but some games you have to win 9-8 and some games 2-1, and that shows positive signs."

The River Hawks put up two runs before there was one out in the first inning, en route to a three-run frame. A pair of walks sandwiched around a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs for Passatempo. The freshman delivered a two-run singe back up the middle, scoring Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass.) and Oscar Marchena (Miami, Fla.). Chris Sharpe (Burlington, Mass.) came around to score on a groundout by Russ Olive (Chelmsford, Mass.) for the 3-0 advantage.

After the Bears tacked on one run in the second, Passatempo blasted a two-run shot to left to open up a 5-1 buffer in the next frame. Brown responded with three runs in the fifth, behind a home run and triple coming off the bats of Rob Baker and Kevin Guthrie, respectively.

With its lead trimmed to 5-4, UMass Lowell rebounded with a four-run top of the sixth behind a two-run triple from Consolmagno. scoring Nick Barry (Grafton, Mass.) and Ben Prada (Laurel, Md.). A pair of sacrifice flies from Marchena and Ian Strom (Hopedale, Mass.) pushed the score to 9-4.

Barry and Prada began the inning with back-to-back singles to get the River Hawks threatening with runners on first and third with no outs.

The hosts would not go away as Rob Henry hit his second homer of the game in the sixth, a three-run shot off of Collin Duffley (Manchester, N.H.). The freshman came in as relief of Ricky Constant (Nashua, N.H.) in the fifth, and escaped a two-on, two-out jam with two pitches.

Duffley improved to 2-0, and Brendan Long (Naples, Fla.) picked up his eighth save of the season with two strikeouts in the ninth. Consolmagno scored two runs and drove in two, while Sharpe scored three times. Prada added two hits and scored one run.

UMass Lowell takes on the Connecticut Huskies on April 20, under the lights of LeLacheur Park at 7 p.m.