LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (17-32, 9-13 AE) fell to the Binghamton Bearcats (26-19, 12-10 AE) in a back-and-forth America East contest on Thursday night.
 
Sophomore Jacob Humphrey (Standish, Maine) and graduate student Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) each tallied two hits, two runs and one stolen base. Senior Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) tallied two hits and an RBI while sophomore Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) recorded two hits, two RBIs and drew one walk.
 
Graduate student Joshua Becker (Burlington, Mass.) went 2.2 innings and struck out two. Fellow graduate student Matt Draper (Lowell, Mass.) went 4.1 innings and fell to 3-8 on the year. Draper struck out one with zero earned runs and two walks. Junior Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) finished the game on the mound, striking out one with one hit allowed in 2.0 frames.
 
The defense behind Becker made a nice play early in the game, turning a 6-4-3 double play in the first. Humphrey and Gallagher had back-to-back hits to put runners on second and third in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) and senior Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) drew back-to-back walks to bring in one run before a fielder's choice scored Robert Gallagher. Brandon Fish and Trey Brown kept the offense rolling with consecutive base hits to give UMass Lowell a 4-0 lead.  
 
Binghamton responded in the top of the second with a one-out single and a three-run home run tying the game at 4-4. The visitors took the lead in the third with two extra-base hits to take a 6-4 lead. The Bearcats tacked on two more runs before Draper entered the game and closed the frame. A run in the fourth gave the visitors a 9-4 edge.
 
UMass Lowell came storming back in the bottom of the fourth, kickstarted by an RBI single down the right field line from Robert Gallagher to bring in the inning's first run. Ryan Proto doubled to deep center to Gallagher, forcing Binghamton to make a pitching change. Brandon Fish and sophomore Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) hit back-to-back singles to even the score at 9-9 after four.
 
The scoring halted until the eighth inning as Matt Draper and Binghamton's Snyder kept the offenses at bay. Brendan Williams came in relief of Draper in the eighth inning. A one-out double and sacrifice fly gave Binghamton the 11-9 lead late.
 
The River Hawks could not find an answer and fell in game one. Game two is set for 1:00 p.m. at LeLacheur Park on Friday, May 19.