LOWELL, Mass. – After a 4-0-week last week, the UMass Lowell team (8-20, 3-6 AE) returns to action with another four-game week. The River Hawks will battle local rival Merrimack on Tuesday afternoon before another America East weekend series at UAlbany.
 
Game Info at Merrimack
 
Tuesday, April 11 at Merrimack (3 p.m.)
 
Greater Lawrence Tech High School (Andover, Mass.)
 
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LAST MEETING
The River Hawks and Warriors met last season in Lowell, with UMass Lowell coming out on top with a 9-8 victory. The River Hawks have won three of the last four meetings between the clubs.
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack has lost three of its last four games, including dropping a conference series to Wagner last weekend, and holds an 8-18 overall record with a 5-7 conference mark. Michael Golankiewicz leads the offense hitting .362 on the year with team-highs in hits (38) and runs (28), as well as 17 RBIs and 55 total bases. As a unit, the Warriors have hit 20 homeruns and allowed 30 and have a team batting average of .271. Justin Butera leads the pitching staff with a 5.93 ERA and a 1-1 record. Tyghe Healy leads the team with 24 strikeouts in eight appearances.
 
Series Info at UAlbany
 
Friday, April 14 at UAlbany (6 p.m.)
 
Joseph L. Bruno Stadium (Troy, N.Y.)
 
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Saturday, April 15 at UAlbany (12 p.m.)
 
Varsity Field (Albany, N.Y.)
 
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Sunday, April 16 at UAlbany (12 p.m.)
 
Varsity Field (Albany, N.Y.)
 
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LAST MEETING
UMass Lowell and UAlbany met late in the season last year with the River Hawks taking the series 2-1 in Albany. The River Hawks also won the reverse series 2-1 at LeLacheur Park and have won five of the last seven meetings.
 
SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
UAlbany has had a difficult season so far, with a 3-20-1 overall record and 0-9 mark in conference play. Despite the record, the Great Danes are a talented team with plenty of dangerous players on both sides of the ball. Dan Tauken leads the team hitting .348 with 23 hits and 18 RBIs on the season, sitting tenth in the league in batting average. Tauken is fourth in the league in slugging percentage (.652) and fourth in OPS (1.079). Five other batters are hitting over .250 through 24 games this season. On the mound, Cregg Scherrer is sixth in the league with 39 strikeouts and twelfth in innings pitched (33.0).
 
LOOKING AT UMASS LOWELL
The River Hawks got back to winning ways with a 4-0-week last week. UMass Lowell defeated Dartmouth 6-1 on the road before sweeping the Bryant Bulldogs at home over the weekend. In that stretch, the River Hawks outscored their opponents 48-17. Fritz Genther hit .600 across the four games with nine hits, eight runs and five RBIs. Alex Luccini had a great weekend series, tallying nine hits, four runs and seven RBIs against Bryant, hitting .474 over the four-game stretch.
 
Miles Cota improved to 1-0 after getting the win at Dartmouth and Joshua Becker, Matt Draper and Nick DiRito all earned wins this at the weekend over Bryant. DiRito impressed in his start on Sunday afternoon after back-to-back shut down games from Becker and Draper.
 
STOLEN GOODS
Base running was a key factor to the River Hawks success last season and has proven once again to be an effective asset to their game. As a unit, UMass Lowell is 31-42 on stolen base attempts this season with Jacob Humphrey leading the way going 10-12. Fritz Genther and Gerry Siracusa are both 5-6 while Robert Gallagher is 6-9 through 28 games.
 
BIG BATS
The offense had its most productive weekend of the series against Bryant, outscoring the Bulldogs 42-16 in three games. The stretch is the first time since April 26 through April 29 of 2022 that the River Hawks have scored double figure runs in three consecutive games. Alex Luccini led the charge with nine hits in three games, his most productive weekend of the season.
 
CONFERENCE RANKS
Alex Luccini sits 11^th in the league in batting average at .347 while Fritz Genther is 11^th in slugging percentage at .542. Matt Tobin's on base percentage of .431 is also 11^th in the league. Jacob Humphrey and Fritz Genther are seventh and 12^th in the league in runs scored with 24 and 22, respectively. Gerry Siracusa is seventh in the conference with 36 hits while Humphrey's 33 has him tenth. Siracusa and Genther are also sixth and eighth in RBIs with 24 and 23, respectively.
 
Matt Draper is eighth in the league in ERA (5.10) and opposing batting average (.268) and leads the conference in innings pitched (47.2). The veteran is third in the league with 41 strikeouts on the year. Nick DiRito is tied with Draper for fifth in batters struck out looking and eighth in wins with two each.