LOWELL, Mass. – After a long stretch on the road, the UMass Lowell baseball team (4-17, 0-3 AE) got back to winning ways with a 10-3 win over the Stonehill Skyhawks (3-16, 1-5 NEC) in the home opener at LeLacheur Park on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) and graduate student Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) each had two hits to lead the team. Junior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) scored three runs while freshman Trevor Crosby (North Andover, Mass.) tallied his first collegiate hit.
 
On the mound, sophomore LJ Keevan (Holden, Mass.) earned his first win of the season to improve to 1-5 and struck out two. Freshman Brian Foley (Milton, Mass.) closed out the ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts. The bullpen was active as sophomores Hayden Duke (Mattapoisett, Mass.) and Drew Haight (Duxbury, Mass.) and junior Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) all had strong showings on the bump.
 
"We have to make routine plays. And Fritz [Genther], another great game from him defensively," said head coach Ken Harring. "We're still fighting it offensively a bit, guys clutching the bat too hard right now. On the mound I saw some bright spots, but LJ [Keevan], [Hayden] Duke, Drew [Haight], everybody we went to today looked good and I'm happy with our pitchers."
 
Senior Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) got the River Hawks on the board in the first inning with a single to center that scored Siracusa and graduate student Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) for an early 2-0 lead. Genther would score on a double play to make it a 3-0 game after one.  
 
Stonehill got two back in the second inning before Siracusa's RBI single restored the two-run lead for UMass Lowell. After tacking on one more in the third, the River Hawks' offense scored four runs on just one hit in the fourth inning to take a commanding 9-2 lead.
 
The Skyhawks tacked on a run in the fifth but would be held scoreless the rest of the game by the UMass Lowell bullpen. Graduate student Zach Rodgers (Parrish, Fla.), junior Zach Fortuna (Newburyport, Mass.) and Brendan Williams threw scoreless innings through the eighth.
 
Alex Luccini's second hit of the day came in the bottom of the eighth, an RBI single that scored Genther to push the lead to 10-3. Brian Foley came into the game to close out the ninth and retired the side in order with two strikeouts.  
 
"A win is a win. We took advantage of some of their mistakes early, but we still have to clean some things up," added Harring. "But we got the win and now we go to Maine for a big weekend. We'll be ready to go again."
 
The River Hawks will visit the Maine Black Bears for an America East battle in Orono. Game one is currently set for Friday, March 31 with the first pitch slated for 6:00 p.m.