LOWELL, Mass. – Sophomore Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) went 4-5 with two runs and a team-high five RBIs to lead the UMass Lowell baseball team (6-20, 1-6 AE) to a 12-8 win over the Bryant Bulldogs (13-12, 4-3 AE) in game one of the weekend series on Friday night.
 
The River Hawks scored 12 runs on 15 hits with eight of nine hitters tallying at least one hit on the day. Six pitchers saw time on the bump and struck out 10 Bryant batters collectively.
 
"First conference win is always a big one. [Joshua] Becker did a great job getting back into what he did all last year, throwing strikes and commanding the zone," said head coach Ken Harring. "Our team showed resiliency after they hit that two-run homerun, scoring the tying run right after was big."
 
Junior Fritz Genther (Kingston, Mass.) had a good day at the plate going 4-4 with two runs, one RBI and a walk. Graduate student Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) had three RBIS to go with two hits and two runs while five other River Hawks tallied one run and one hit.
 
On the mound, graduate student Joshua Becker (Burlington, Mass.) earned his first win of the season to improve to 1-1 on the year. The veteran threw 5.0 innings with six strikeouts while allowing two hits and two earned runs.
 
"I thought Brendan Williams was really good, Shane Bogli settled things down for us and then Michael Simes at the end were big for us," said Harring.
 
Freshman Michael Simes (Rutland, Mass.) earned his first career save, striking out one in the ninth to secure the victory. Junior Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) and graduate student Shane Bogli (Vernon, Conn.) each had efficient outings on the mound to keep the River Hawks in the lead.
 
The bats got going early as UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead on Genther's RBI single in the first. The Bulldogs answered in the second with a two-run homerun by John Hosmer to take the lead. A sacrifice fly from junior Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.) in the bottom of the second tied the game at 2-2.
 
UMass Lowell's offense had been struggling this season but found life in the fourth inning against Bryant. Gerry Siracusa's base-clearing double gave the River Hawks a 5-2 edge before Alex Luccini's double brought in two more runs for a five-run lead.
 
"We got big hits today and I always say, 'our dudes need to be dudes', and they did that today," added Harring. "Gerry [Siracusa] was a dude today, Fritz [Genther] was a dude today, [Alex] Luccini is on his way to being a dude, too. That big at bat with a couple fouls balls and he came up with a big hit."
 
Back-to-back scoreless frames from the UMass Lowell pitching core gave the offense a chance to add to the advantage. Alex Luccini continued to hit well and drove in two more runs with a single to center, stretching the lead to 10-2. One more run would score in the sixth to put the River Hawks in front 11-2 heading into the seventh.
 
The Bulldogs did not go quietly and tacked on four runs in the top of the seventh to bring the deficit to five runs. The hot hand stayed white hot as Alex Luccini drilled a solo homerun to right field to give the River Hawks their twelfth run of the afternoon and restore the six-run lead. Bryant added two in the ninth, but Michael Simes ended the game with a strikeout to secure the win.
 
Game two of the series is set for 1:00 p.m. at LeLacheur Park on Saturday, April 8.