VESTAL, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (3-17, 0-3 AE) fell to the Binghamton Bearcats (11-8, 3-0 AE) in Sunday's doubleheader at the Bearcats Sports Complex. The hosts complete the series sweep.
"Obviously, it was a tough day," said head coach
Ken Harring. "We showed some glimpses, but at the end of the day, we aren't doing enough good things together to win. I told the team; we are in the exact spot we were last year."
Game 1
Box Score
Junior
Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) led the team with two hits, including a solo home run. Senior
Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) brought in two runs to lead the team. Sophomore
Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) and graduate student
Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) each added one hit and one RBI on the afternoon.
Nick DiRito (Plymouth, Mass.) fell to 1-2 on the season after going 3.2 innings, allowing five hits and five earned runs with one strikeout. Junior
Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) went 2.0 innings and struck out one.
DiRito got into a jam in the first with runners on the corners and one out. The freshman got some help from his defense, as junior
Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.) kickstarted a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame.
Fritz Genther's solo shot to right gave the River Hawks a 1-0 lead before
Conor Kelly's RBI double scored sophomore
Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) to make it 2-0. Devan Bade hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to one.
After a scoreless third for UMass Lowell, Binghamton scored three to take a 4-2 lead. The Bearcats built a 6-2 lead heading into the seventh and final inning of the game one. Needing a rally, the River Hawks got a spark from
Robert Gallagher's RBI double that cut the lead to three.
With the bases loaded and two out,
Trey Brown singled up the middle to score two runs to make it a one-run game. UMass Lowell had the bases loaded once again, but all three runners were left stranded, and Binghamton took game one 6-5.
Game 2
Box Score
Fritz Genther had a team-best three hits and two RBIs in game two.
Alex Luccini added a two-run homerun and scored a run.
Jacob Humphrey, senior
Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) and
Trey Brown each added one run and combined for four hits.
Jacob Humphrey hit a leadoff single and made it to third on a wild pitch and a groundout before Gallagher stole second to put two runners in scoring position.
Fritz Genther singled up the middle to score two and give the visitors another early lead.
Binghamton's Cavan Tully answered with a leadoff solo homerun to cut the lead to one. The Bearcats tacked on three more runs to extend lead after one. Binghamton added one more in the second to take a 5-2 lead.
The River Hawks got right back in the game in the top of the fifth behind
Alex Luccini's moonshot to right field that scored two, making it a one-run game. Binghamton tacked on three in the seventh to push the lead to four.
Trey Brown and
Ryan Proto got on with base hits with the River Hawks down to their final out. A wild pitch scored Brown, making it 8-5, and Proto advanced to third. A fly out ended the game and Binghamton swept the weekend series.
UMass Lowell is back in action on Wednesday, March 29 in the home opener against Stonehill. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at LeLacheur Park.
