LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (11-17, 5-7 AE) fell 9-6 in extra innings to the UMBC Retrievers (13-17, 5-7 AE) in the series finale at LeLacheur Park on Sunday afternoon.
 
"Our bats went to sleep, and we gave them a bunch of free bases," said head coach Ken Harring. "It's another steppingstone. Our at-bats were just okay today. As long as this is a learning experience for these guys, we'll end up being better for it."
 
Freshman Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) led the offense with three hits, two runs, and two RBIs on the afternoon. Sophomore Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) added two RBIs, one hit, and one run. Five other River Hawks tallied a hit in the loss.
 
On the mound, senior Joshua Becker (Burlington, Mass.) threw 6.0 innings, striking out seven and allowing two earned runs. Senior Matt Draper (Lowell, Mass.) tallied three strikeouts in 1.1 innings.
 
The Retrievers got on the board in the first inning after a leadoff triple. A ground out brought in one run to put UMBC ahead 1-0 early, but the River Hawks answered in the bottom of the second. Fish was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to third on a single from junior Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.). The freshman came in to tie the game after a ground out.
 
The visitors jumped back in front in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Myles Nicholson. Becker picked up two of his seven strikeouts in the fourth to finish the inning. Genther brought in Fish with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game once again. Sophomore Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.) then singled to left to bring in Genther, putting UMass Lowell ahead 3-2.
 
Becker continued to pitch well and threw a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth and recorded another strikeout. The River Hawks' offense got rolling in the bottom of the fifth as freshman Jacob Humphrey (Standish, ME.) and senior Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) were both walked, forcing the Retrievers to make a pitching change. Junior Cedric Rose (Pittsfield, Mass.) extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single to third to load the bases. Fish followed Rose with a single up the middle to score two, making it 5-2 to the hosts. A sacrifice fly from Genther scored another run, stretching the lead to four runs after five innings.
 
Joshua Becker picked up two more strikeouts in the sixth inning, totaling seven on the day, retiring the side. Senior Sal Fusco (Colonie, N.Y.) entered the game in the seventh and struck out the first batter he faced in five pitches. The veteran forced back-to-back fly outs for a 1-2-3 inning as the game entered the seventh inning stretch.
 
Freshman Hayden Duke (Mattapoisett, Mass.)  entered the game in the eighth, making his seventh appearance on the mound in this rookie campaign. Luke Johnson was hit by a pitch and advanced to third after two wild pitches and then came in to score on a throwing error, cutting the lead to 6-3. UMBC continued to battle, getting runners on first and second with two out. Jayden Shertel's RBI single made it 6-4 and the River Hawks brought in Matt Draper in relief. Myles Nicholson doubled to left and brought in two runs to tie the game. With runners on the corners, Draper struck out Diaz to end the inning.
 
The game was tied 6-6 entering the ninth inning and Draper stayed on the mound for the River Hawks. Back-to-back singles put runners on first and second, but Draper answered with back-to-back strikeouts and forced a ground out to end the inning. The River Hawks could not find the winning run in the ninth, so the game moved to extra innings.
 
The Retrievers took the lead in the top of the tenth and UMass Lowell brought in sophomore Michael Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) with runners on second and third. UMBC added two more runs for an 9-6 lead. UMass Lowell could not find an answer and fell in the series finale.