KINGSTON, R.I. – In a day of pitcher's duels the UMass Lowell baseball team earned a split in its first two America East contests of the year with UAlbany on Friday afternoon, taking the first game in extra innings before falling 1-0 in the second tilt of the doubleheader.
Russ Olive (Chelmsford, Mass.) picked up three hits and scored twice on the day, including two triples in the 3-2 victory, and
Jack Riley (Worcester, Mass.) set the program's Division I single-game strikeout record with 11 in the second game.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning,
Mark Tumosa (Willington, Conn.) drew a walk on four straight pitches to send the River Hawks (8-11, 1-1) to their first walk-off win of the season.
Olive sparked rally with his second three-bagger of the game, and following back-to-back intentional walks to
Colby Maiola (North Reading, Mass.) and
Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass.), Tumosa stepped up to the plate.
Maiola sent the game into extras with a ground-rule double to score Olive in the seventh, after UAlbany (9-6, 1-1) took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a two-run double.
UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead in the second on a Climo single, after Maiola was hit and stole second.
Dan Cunico (Sandyston, N.J.) earned his second win of the year with two shutout innings in extras.
In the second game, both starters went the distance as Riley allowed three hits and the one run with his record-setting strikeouts. The redshirt-junior recorded multiple strikeouts in four of the seven frames, including striking out the side in the seventh.
The previous single-game mark was 10, set by
Collin Duffley (Manchester, N.H.) in 2017 and
Andrew Ryan (Rochester, Mass.) in 2016.
Mark Codispoti's solo shot in the third delivered the win for the Great Danes, as Dominic Savino scattered five hits in seven innings.
The rubber game of the series is set for 12 p.m. tomorrow.
