February 26 vs. St. John's (3 p.m.)
Live Stats | Watch Live (ESPN3)
 
February 27 vs. St. John's (1 p.m.)
Live Stats | Watch Live (ESPN3)

February 28 vs. St. John's (1 p.m.)
Live Stats | Watch Live (ESPN3)
Twitter: @RiverHawkBB | @RiverHawkNation
 
LOWELL, Mass. – After the abrupt ending to the 2020 season, the UMass Lowell baseball team is back in action and will open their 2021 season this weekend at St. John's. The River Hawks will play three games over three days against the Red Storm at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
 
A LOOK BACK
UMass Lowell made the most of the shortened 2020 season, winning three of their first four games. The River Hawks won the series opener at Canisius on Feb. 14 by a 12-7 score and capped the weekend and earned the series win with a 14-4 victory on Feb. 16. Their final win of the season would come against Delaware, sneaking by the Blue Hens, 8-7.
 
RETURNING TALENT
Senior Vinnie Martin (Lodi, N.J.) returns to the River Hawk roster for the 2021 season. The New Jersey native led the team in nine offensive categories last season, which included doubles (four), HRs (two), total bases (31), slugging (.660) and walks (14). Classmate Joey Castellanos (Nutley, N.J.) made 58 appearances at the plate to lead the team with nine RBIs.
 
FRESH FACES
In addition to its 25 returning players, UMass Lowell's roster features seven new faces.  True freshmen, Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.), Jimmy Sullivan (East Hampton, Conn.), Zach Fortuna (Newburyport, Mass.) and Michael Quigley (Halifax, Mass.), along with transfers Cedric Rose (Pittsfield, Mass.), Brian Gaughan (Walpole, Mass.) and Jake Randolph (Exeter, N.H.) join the squad for the 2021 season.
 
"This is a very complete class that addressed all of our needs," commented head coach Ken Harring. "We feel very fortunate to have added such quality players and people to our team."
 
ON THE MOUND
Returning to the pitching staff are underclassmen Joshua Becker (Burlington, Mass.) and Matt Draper (Lowell, Mass.) alongside veterans, Collin Duffley (Manchester, N.H.) and Henry Funaro (Lowell, Mass.).
 
Becker will return to the mound for the River Hawks after leading the team in strikeouts last year, recording 20 in 12.2 innings pitched, alongside a team-best three saves. Draper appeared in five games in his sophomore season with the River Hawks, leading the squad with a total of 17.1 innings pitched. Duffley and Funaro will look to make a statement in the coming months, coming off seven combined starts in 2020.
 
SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S
St. John's will also be kicking-off their season this weekend. The Red Storm went 5-9 during their abbreviated season, including 2-0 on their home field. They bring back two of their main starters from a season ago in Nick Mondak and Ian Murphy. Mondak posted a 4.29 earned run average across four starts and had 21 strikeouts. Murphy had a 6.35 earned run average, along with 18 strikeouts.
 
AMERICA EAST ACTION
Conference play is scheduled to begin March 20 and will include four-game weekend series consisting of Saturday-Sunday doubleheaders with the first game lasting seven innings and a full nine being played for the second. Two divisions have been created for this season and each team will play two series against its division rivals with one cross-division series for each remaining opponent. Due to COVID-19 schedules are subject to change. Full Composite Schedule.
 
The top four teams will qualify for the America East Baseball Championship which is scheduled to be held by the highest seed May 27-30. The champion earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
 
FAN ATTENDANCE
Due to health and safety considerations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, spectators will not be allowed to attend UMass Lowell athletic competitions at this time.