Game 1 Box (PDF) | Game 2 Box (PDF) | Highlights
LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell (17-25, 5-15 AE) baseball team dropped a pair of conference games against UMBC (22-20, 10- AE), 7-3 and 2-1, Saturday at LeLacheur Park.
"It was a tough day to lose two more," said Head Coach
Ken Harring. "We are trying everything we can to get out of this, Xirinachs pitches a great game in game two and we couldn't score enough runs for him. They're a veteran team and they took advantage of what they needed to do."
The Retrievers' Kevin Lachance led off the game with a double and came with one run in the top of the first, and added two in the fourth behind a Hunter Dolshun solo home run to take a 3-0 lead.
Steve Passatempo (Medford, Mass.) connected on his 10th long ball of the season, and the first for the River Hawks at LeLacheur this season, to cut into the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the frame. Three batters later,
Chris Sharpe (Burlington, Mass.) made it a one-run game with a sacrifice fly, following back-to-back singles by
Russ Olive (Chelmsford, Mass.) and
Oscar Marchena (Miami, Fla.).
UMBC tacked on four straight with one in the sixth and three in the seventh before
Joe Consolmagno (Worcester, Mass.) crossed the plate on a wild pitch in the eighth.
In the fifth inning, Consolmagno hit his 13th career triple to move into a tie for first all-time. The senior led the team with two hits in the first game.
Lachance and Andrew Casali each had three hits for UMBC, and Lachance scored two runs.
Game Two
The River Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Olive sent a RBI single back up the middle to score Marchena, who led off the inning with a single.
Dolshun ripped a two-run double down the left field line to put the guests up 2-1 in the fourth inning. Anthony Gatto connected on UMBC's first hit of the game with a single and scored the go-ahead run.
Steve Xirinachs (San Diego, Calif.) pitched seven innings and struck out four in the loss.
The River Hawks look to snap their skid on Senior Day, with game three against the Retrievers at 12 p.m. tomorrow. There will be a pre-game ceremony honoring Consolmagno at approximately 11:45 a.m.
