LOWELL, Mass. – Behind another all-around impressive showing, the UMass Lowell baseball team (18-23, 8-11 AE) defeated the UAlbany Great Danes (18-18, 7-12 AE) by a score of 13-1 on Friday Night.
 
"All week we've been playing really good baseball and showed that again today. I thought LJ [Keevan] set the tone early and commanded the game," said head coach Ken Harring. "The tone was set early on, and our offense has been relentless all week long and we got a lot of guys clicking right now so it's a lot of fun."
 
Freshman LJ Keevan (Holden, Mass.) improved to 4-3 on the year after throwing 6.0 innings, striking out five, and allowing just one hit. Sophomore Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) threw 2.0 innings and struck out three. Fellow sophomore Zach Fortuna (Newburyport, Mass.) closed the game throwing 1.0 inning and sat one hitter to seal the win.
 
Senior Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) led the team with four hits on the night and added in two runs and two RBIs. Sophomore Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) tallied a team-high four RBIs on two hits. Freshman Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Cedric Rose (Pittsfield, Mass.) each added two hits and combined for three RBIs on the night.  
 
LJ Keevan opened the game with two strikeouts in the first inning and threw a scoreless second inning, with Fritz Genther making another great defensive play to kickstart the 6-4-3 double play. In the bottom of the second inning, senior Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) hit a leadoff double to right center and came in to score after an RBI single from sophomore Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.). The River Hawks doubled the lead after Jacob Humphrey's RBI triple scored Hernandez.
 
The River Hawks' defensive work was strong in the fourth as well, with Roddy Hernandez making a nice play for the out at first to end a 1-2-3 inning. Keevan continued to pitch well and got out of the fifth retiring the side in order. An RBI double from Brandon Fish in the bottom of the fifth gave UMass Lowell a 3-0 lead.
 
With two on and two out in the bottom of the fifth, Fritz Genther hit an RBI single to right center to bring in Gallagher and Fish, stretching the lead to 5-0. Keevan picked up two more strikeouts in a scoreless top of the sixth. Gerry Siracusa hit an RBI single to left to bring in freshman Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) for the River Hawks' sixth run of the night.
 
Keevan finished the day with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings, allowing just one hit. Brendan Williams took the mound in the seventh and tallied two strikeouts, leaving two runners stranded to end the inning. Siracusa hit an RBI double in the seventh to bring in Luccini, making it a 10-0 game. A groundout from Brandon Fish and a base hit from Cedric Rose scored two more runs for a 12-0 lead for the River Hawks. The offense continued firing on all cylinders as Fritz Genther's RBI double scored another run, pushing the lead to 13-0 through seven.
 
The Great Danes got on the board in the eighth with a sacrifice fly. Williams picked up another strikeout in the inning. UMass Lowell closed the game in the ninth as Zach Fortuna took over on the mound and struck out one to secure the 13-1 victory.  
 
Game two of the series is set for 1:00 p.m. at LeLacheur Park.