LOWELL, Mass. – An offensive explosion in the sixth inning led the UMass Lowell baseball team (7-20, 2-6 AE) to a 14-5 win over the Bryant Bulldogs (13-13, 4-4 AE) on Saturday afternoon at LeLacheur Park. The River Hawks clinch the weekend series and will look to complete the sweep tomorrow afternoon.
 
Graduate student Matt Draper (Lowell, Mass.) improved to 2-4 on the season after a stellar performance on the mound. The veteran went 6.0 innings, striking out nine batters while allowing three earned runs. Junior Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.), sophomore Drew Haight (Duxbury, Mass.) and senior Miles Cota (Hampstead, N.C.) each threw 1.0 to help the River Hawks to victory.
 
"Draper settled down after the first and was phenomenal, nine punchouts and no walks, he gave us an opportunity to win," said head coach Ken Harring. "We got going in the sixth and I thought the biggest at bat of the inning was Trey Brown's single that gave us the lead. We took advantage of the hit by pitches and walks today."  
 
Sophomore Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) had another impressive day at the plate, going 4-5 for the second game in a row with one RBI. Graduate student Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) tallied two hits and two runs with a team-high three RBIs. Junior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) and senior Matt Tobin (Poland, N.Y.) each tallied two hits on the afternoon and combined for three RBIs. Graduate student Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) scored a team-high four runs and added one RBI and drew two walks.
 
"For us, we take it one game at time and not harp on the past. We know what we are capable of and that we weren't playing the standard we want to," said center fielder Gerry Siracusa. "We'll celebrate and enjoy the victory for a bit, but then it's onto tomorrow."
 
Bryant got off to a hot start with three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out in the first inning. A sacrifice fly and wild pitch scored two before Draper picked up his first strikeout of the afternoon for the second out. A fly out ended the frame with the visitors in front early. Fritz Genther's RBI single scored Gallagher to cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first.
 
The Bulldogs tacked on a third run in the top of the third to restore the two-run edge. Senior Frank Wayman (Horseheads, N.Y.)  was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it a 3-2 game. Draper and Bryant's Brett Wichrowski settled down and both threw back-to-back scoreless frames, sending the game to the sixth inning with Bryant ahead by one.
 
Matt Draper threw his ninth strikeout of the afternoon to end the sixth inning to give the River Hawks another opportunity to tie the game. Alex Luccini hit a ground-rule double to open the bottom of the sixth but was thrown out at third on Wayman's bunt.
 
Senior Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.)  pinch hit the bases loaded and drilled a line drive into right to score two and give UMass Lowell the lead. Sophomore Jacob Humphrey (Standish, Maine) drew a walk to load the bases again for Gallagher with one out and chance to extend the lead. Gallagher was hit by a pitch to bring in another run and keep the bases loaded. Gerry Siracusa singled up the middle to bring in two runs, stretching the lead to 7-3. The bats kept going as Genther doubled to right center to score Gallagher and put runners on second and third.
 
A wild pitch scored Siracusa and moved Genther to third as the River Hawks continued to pile on the runs in the bottom of the sixth. Genther came in to score on a passed ball before Matt Tobin's RBI single scored sophomore Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) from second, giving the River Hawks an 11-3 lead heading into the seventh. UMass Lowell scored nine runs on six hits in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Brendan Williams took over on the mound for the seventh as Matt Draper finished his day with nine strikeouts and three earned runs. Bryant tacked on two in the top of the seventh with a double to cut the lead to 11-5. Gerry Siracusa picked up his second hit of the day with an RBI single down the left field line to bring in Humphrey. Alex Luccini could not be stopped and brought in another run with his fourth hit of the afternoon. Conor Kelly drew a walk to bring in another, making it a 14-5 game.  
 
UMass Lowell's bullpen shut down the Bulldogs in the final innings of the game, throwing back-to-back scoreless frames.  Miles Cota entered the game in ninth and secured the win in game two and give the River Hawks their first conference series win of the season.
 
The series finale is set for 12:00 p.m. at LeLacheur Park on Sunday, April 9.