MERION STATION, Penn. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (2-12, 0-0 AE) fell to the Saint Joseph's Hawks (4-6, 0-0 A10) 9-3 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. The River Hawks drop the weekend series 0-3 against the Hawks and fall to 2-12 on the season.
 
Seniors Frank Wayman (Horseheads, N.Y.) and Matt Tobin (Poland, N.Y.) led the team with two hits apiece. Tobin went 2-2 on the day. Graduate student Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) had two RBIs with one hit and one run while senior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) added two hits of his own.
 
Graduate student Joshua Becker (Burlington, Mass.) replaced freshman Nick DiRito (Plymouth, Mass.) in the first inning and went 3.2 innings with four punchouts. Senior Frankie Venezia (Lyndhurst, N.J.) and sophomore Hayden Duke (Mattapoisett, Mass.) each went 1.0 inning with one strikeout.
 
"We haven't played good baseball," said head coach Ken Harring. "We are out of sync in all facets of the game right now, but we have a couple days of practice before heading to Delaware. We'll get this figured out, and when we do, we know what we're capable of."
 
It was a difficult start for Nick DiRito, allowing four hits in the first inning including a grand slam that put the Hawks in front 4-0. Joshua Becker took over and ended the frame with back-to-back strikeouts. Saint Joseph's built a six-run lead in the second behind a two-run homerun. The River Hawks got two runs back in the top of the third on a hit by pitch and passed ball to cut the lead. The hosts tacked on one in the bottom half to take a 7-2 lead.
 
The Hawks offense continued to roll, scoring two runs on two hits in the fifth to stretch the lead to seven runs. UMass Lowell was able to limit the offense in the sixth and seventh innings, keeping the hosts from adding to the advantage. Gerry Siracusa hit a leadoff solo home run in the top of the eighth to make it a 9-3 game, but the River Hawks could not chip away further.
 
Matt Tobin and Fritz Genther picked up base hits in the top of the ninth, but both were left stranded as the Saint Joseph's pitching core continued to throw well. UMass Lowell will have the week off before returning to action with a visit to Delaware next weekend.
 
The weekend series at Delaware is set to begin with game one on Friday, March 17. First pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m. at Bob Hannah Stadium.