LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (5-10) is set for a weekend series against the Penn State Nittany Lions (9-5) starting on Thursday, March 14 at Medlar Field.
 
Game 1 at Penn State 3/14 – 5:30pm
 
Watch | Live Stats | Listen
 
Game 2 at Penn State 3/16 – 2pm
 
Watch | Live Stats | Listen
 
 
Game 3 at Penn State 3/17 – 1pm
 
Watch | Live Stats | Listen
 
LOOKING AT UMASS LOWELL
Roddy Hernandez had a stellar weekend at Oral Roberts and now leads the team hitting .333 in 15 starts and his 18 hits this season is tied with Carlos Martinez for the team lead. The River Hawks fell in game one against the Golden Eagles on a walk off after tying the game in the top of the ninth. UMass Lowell answered with a 10-run comeback win in game two before an offensive explosion in game three led the River Hawks to a 16-3 victory and 2-1 series win. The 16-run performance is a season-high and the series win is the second of the year for UMass Lowell.
 
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State enters the weekend with a 9-5 record this season. The Nittany Lions went 2-2 last week, falling to #10 Virginia 6-3 before taking the series against Harvard 2-1 over the weekend. J.T. Marr leads the team hitting .439 through 14 games with a team-high 25 hits and 31 total bases. Five players have tallied double digit RBIs this season and eight are in double figure hits. Travis Luensmann and Anthony Steele lead the pitching core with 11 strikeouts each. Luensmann has a 6.11 ERA in four starts and will likely take the mound over the weekend.
 
A LOOK AT THE LEAGUE
Bryant sits atop the league with a 5-7 overall record so far this season. Binghamton is 5-9 in second with NJIT and UMass Lowell tied for third with 5-10 records. Maine and UMBC have started the year 2-10 while UAlbany have yet to win their first game of the new season through their first 10 games. Conference play begins Friday, March 22 for six of the seven teams in the league.
 
ON THE BUMP
Brendan Williams and LJ Keevan have been in the weekend rotation since the beginning of the season and will likely get starts at Penn State. Keevan has 15 strikeouts while Williams has 10 in 16.2 and 18.2 innings, respectively. James Capellupo continues to impress in his rookie season with a team-leading 2.30 ERA and 2-1 record. The freshman leads the team with 15 strikeouts and has one save on the year while allowing just nine hits n five appearances. Michael Simes is into double figure strikeouts with 10 and Andres Hulfachor has been solid in six appearances out of the bullpen this season and has one save on the year.
 
HEAVY HITTERS
Roddy Hernandez and Carlos Martinez lead the team with 18 hits each through 15 games this season. Trey Brown and Alex Luccini have tallied 16 hits apiece while Ryan Proto and Sean O'Leary have recorded 14 and 11 hits, respectively. As a unit, the River Hawks have hit 14 home runs in 15 games, including two grand slams from Sean O'Leary and Conor Kelly. Martinez leads the team with three homers while O'Leary and Fritz Genther have two each.