HIGH POINT, N.C. – Freshman James Capellupo (Hilton, N.Y.) struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth as the UMass Lowell baseball team (3-1) defeated the High Point Panthers (1-3) 6-1 in the weekend finale. The River Hawks win the series 3-1 to open the new campaign.

"Today was the cleanest game we played all weekend. Defensively, Roddy [Hernandez] and Sean [O'Leary] were fantastic," said head coach Nick Barese. "To get a pitching performance like we did from a pair of freshmen in Alfred [Mucciarone] and James [Capellupo] is pretty impressive." 
 
Fellow freshman Alfred Mucciarone (Franklin, Mass.) impressed in his collegiate debut, earning the win after throwing 5.0 innings with three strikeouts and one earned run. Capellupo finished the day with four strikeouts and no hits in 4.0 innings.
 
Sophomore Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) had another great day at the plate going 3-4 with one run and one RBI. Graduate student Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) tallied two hits and two RBIs. UMass Lowell got offense up and down the lineup as six other River Hawks tallied a hit in the win.
 
Martinez stayed hot with a single in his first at bat in the first inning with Ryan Proto tallying his first hit of the afternoon as well. The Panther had an opportunity with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, but Alfred Mucciarone escaped the jam with one strikeout.
 
After senior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.)  drew a walk and Carlos Martienz to second, Proto singled to left field to bring in Genther and give UMass Lowell a 1-0 lead. Freshman Sean O'Leary's (Foxboro, Mass.) single loaded the bases with nobody out. Senior Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice to bring in Martinez and double the advantage. The hits kept coming as junior Alex Luccini's (Hopedale, Mass.) RBI single to right made it a 3-0 game.
 
High Point got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to center. Senior Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.) and Sean O'Leary made great defensive plays to keep the Panthers from tacking on more runs as UMass Lowell led 3-1 through three.
 
The River Hawks loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh before Ryan Proto drew a walk to push the lead to 4-1. Sean O'Leary reached on a fielder's choice as Genther crossed the plate for UMass Lowell's second run of the inning. Carlos Martinez's third hit of the afternoon was an RBI double that scored junior Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) , pushing the lead to five runs late in the game.
 
Roddy Hernandez was exceptional in the field in the series finale, totaling five assists and two putouts on the afternoon. The senior made a great play in the bottom of the eighth to help Capellupo get out of a third straight scoreless frame. Sean O'Leary had a great defensive game as well, leading the team with 11 putouts to go with one assist. 
 
The freshman pitcher continued to impress and took a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Capellupo struck out the side to secure the game and series win for the River Hawks.
 
Next up, UMass Lowell will head to Virginia for a weekend series at William & Mary. Game one of the series is set for 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 23.