LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (17-28, 9-12 AE) won a dramatic Kennedy Cup matchup against the Massachusetts Minutemen (11-30, 4-14 A10) behind sophomore Jacob Humphrey's (Standish, Maine) walk-off homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning.
 
Senior Frankie Venezia (Lyndhurst, N.J.) got the start and threw two scoreless innings, retiring six hitters with 17 pitches. Graduate students Zach Rodgers (Parrish, Fla.) and Shane Bogli (Vernon, Conn.) had impressive outings on the mound, both with shutout frames. Freshman Michael Simes (Rutland, Mass.) earned the win to improve to 2-2 on the season.
 
Sophomore Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) had himself a day at the plate, going 4-5 with two RBIs and one run. Junior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) went 3-5 with three RBIs to lead the team and scored one run. Jacob Humphrey had just the one hit, but drew three walks, scored two runs and had two stolen bases. Redshirt freshman Spencer Aubin (Dover, N.H.) had a good day with two hits, two walks and one RBI in three plate appearances.
 
Frankie Venezia got the River Hawks off to a great start, throwing two scoreless frames to open the game. Genther provided some signature defense behind the pitcher, making a great backhand grab on the third base line to throw out the runner at first. Humphrey and graduate student Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) came in to score on defensive errors to give UMass Lowell a 2-0 lead early.
 
The lead grew in the bottom of the second after Fritz Genther's three-run double pushed the River Hawks' advantage to five runs. Freshman Brian Foley (Milton, Mass.) and Zach Rodgers kept Massachusetts off the board through five innings with strong outings on the mound. Spencer Aubin's RBI single scored Conor Kelly in the bottom of the fifth to give the hosts a 6-0 edge.
 
Kelly made a great diving grab on the first base line for the unassisted out in the top of the sixth, but Massachusetts tacked on two runs to cut into the lead. The Hopkinton native came up big in the bottom half of the inning, hitting a two-run double to right field to restore the six-run lead. Shane Bogli retired the side in order in the top of the seventh with two strikeouts to keep UMass Lowell ahead.
 
The lead would last until the top of the ninth when the Minutemen rallied to score six runs and tie the game up at 8-8. Michael Simes came in relief and brought the offense back to the plate with a chance to win the game in dramatic fashion.
 
Jacob Humphrey saw just one pitch before hitting a rocket that hit the left field scoreboard and gave the River Hawks the 9-8 walk-off win. The solo shot was Humphrey's six homerun of the season and becomes the first walk-off winner of the season for UMass Lowell.
 
The River Hawks return to LeLacheur Park for a weekend series against Hofstra. Game one is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 12.