Game 1 (PDF) | Game 2 (PDF)

ORONO, Maine – Steve Passtempo (Medford, Mass.) and Russ Olive (Chelmsford, Mass.) both drove in a pair on the day, but the UMass Lowell baseball team (22-25, 10-12) fell in today's America East doubleheader at Maine (19-24, 6-10).
 
The Black Bears took game one, 7-5, and walked off in the bottom of the seventh to squeeze out a win in game two, 5-4.
 
In game one, the Black Bears took a 1-0 lead on a leadoff home run from Jeremy Pena and added two more in the second on a Caleb Kerbs single.
 
The River Hawks were held hitless and scoreless until Ben Prada's (Laurel, Md.) RBI double in the third that scored John Polichetti (Atkinson, N.H.).
 
UMass Lowell took its first lead of the contest with a four-run sixth inning, sparked by back-to-back singles from Oscar Marchena (Miami, Fla.) and Passatempo to begin the frame. After Marchena scored to cut the deficit to 3-2 with Colby Maiola (North Reading, Mass.) reaching on an error, Olive delivered the key hit with a two-run triple to right field.
 
Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass.) capped the inning with a single to put the River Hawks on top 5-3.
 
Maine got one run back in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI groundout and re-took the lead with a two-run single in the seventh to move in front 6-5.
 
Connor Johnson picked up the win for the hosts, while Connor Metelski (Wall Township, N.J.) allowed his first runs of the season in the loss.
 
Game two started the same way as Jeremy Pena hit the first UMass Lowell pitch over the wall in left for his second leadoff homer on the day.
 
Nick Barry (Grafton, Mass.) brought the River Hawks even in the second with an RBI groundout after back-to-back errors by the Black Bears.
 
Maine grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly, and Polichetti was able to knot the game at 2-2 on a RBI grounder in the fifth. However, in the bottom of the frame a passed ball gave the Black Bears a 3-2 buffer.
 
Passastempo put the River Hawks on top with his seventh homer, a two-run shot to left in the top of the sixth, after Marchena singled.
 
Pena delivered the heroics for Maine in the seventh, driving in the tying run with a single and scoring the winning-run on a wild pitch.
 
Both teams will take the field tomorrow at 4 p.m. for the series finale, and UMass Lowell's final game of 2017.