WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (3-2 fell to the William & Mary Tribe (4-1) by a score of 11-1 in the first game of the weekend series in Williamsburg.
"We did nothing well tonight. We couldn't command the strike zone with any off-speed pitches, so their hitters were able to sit fastball," said head coach
Nick Barese. "Defensively, we made too many mistakes and gave them extra opportunities. Offensively, we didn't stick to our approach or identity. Against a well-coached, talented team like W&M, when you play like we did, you get exposed."
Juniors
Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) and
Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) had the hits for the River Hawks. Senior
Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) drew one walk and had four assists in the field.
Junior
LJ Keevan (Holden, Mass.) went 5.0 innings with five earned runs and five strikeouts. Sophomore
Michael Simes (Rutland, Mass.) had one strikeout while graduate student Hack Sefrino (Dartmouth, Mass.) and junior
Brendan Holland (Andover, Mass.) made their season debuts.
Fritz Genther drew a one-out walk in the first inning and took advantage of two throwing errors by the Tribe, coming in to score and give UMass Lowell the early lead.
LJ Keevan escaped a bases loaded jam with one out, allowing just one run to tie the game in the first. Keevan struck out the side in the second inning, giving him four strikeouts through two frames.
Another bases loaded jam in the third gave William & Mary the opportunity to take the lead. A walk scored one before a double play added a second to give the hosts a 3-1 edge. The Tribe tacked on another in the fifth behind a solo homerun, pushing the lead to three runs. One more came in before the River Hawks escaped the inning, now trailing by four.
The River Hawks' offense struggled while William & Mary extended the lead in the seventh with a two-run homerun. The Tribe tacked one two runs in the eighth, making it four straight innings with two runs scored, to take an 11-1 lead into the ninth. The River Hawks were retired in the ninth and dropped game one.
Game two is set for 2:00 p.m. at Plumeri Park on Saturday, Febraury 24.
