LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (7-13, 1-1 AE) took game before falling in game two against the UAlbany Great Danes (1-15, 1-1 AE) in the doubleheader to open conference play on Friday afternoon.
 
"Game one was fine. Brendan Williams has been good for us all year and it's only a matter of time before our offense gets going," said head coach Nick Barese. "Our starting pitching overall has not been good enough and we can't play catch up all game."
 
Game 1
 
Junior Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) tallied two hits, two runs and three RBIs in game one to lead the River Hawks. Junior Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) added three RBIs with a triple while senior Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) and graduate student Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) each tallied two runs.
 
Senior Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) improved to 1-3 on the year after 6.0 frames with three strikeouts. Sophomore Brendan Holland (Andover, Mass.) closed the game for UMass Lowell, striking out one in the final inning.
 
UAlbany got on the board in the first inning with two runs on one hit. The River Hawks defense turned a double play in the second to keep the deficit at two, but the offense struggled to find a rhythm early. The defense turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the top of the fourth and keep UMass Lowell down by two.
 
The River Hawks scored four hits on no hits in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead through four frames. Senior Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.) hit a leadoff single in the fifth before Trey Brown was hit by a pitch to put two on. Luccini drilled one down the right line and brought in two runs to make it 6-2 game. Sophomore Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) hit a sac fly to score Luccini and push the lead to five runs.
 
The offense continued to roll in the fifth with Brandon Fish's two-out triple scoring two more runs, pushing the lead to 9-2. Luccini hit a deep solo shot to right field, his fifth homer of the year, to stretch the lead late in game one.
 
Brendan Holland took over for the seventh inning and Williams finished the day with three strikeouts in 6.0 innings. A 5-4-3 double play ended game one and the River Hawks improved to 7-12 on the year and 1-0 in league play.
 
Game 2
 
Brandon Fish tallied two hits to lead the River Hawks in game two with four other players registering one hit. Senior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) scored the lone run for UMass Lowell.
 
 
UAlbany jumped out to another early lead, scoring five runs in the first. Graduate student Miles Cota (Hampstead, NC) took over for sophomore Michael Simes (Rutland, Mass.) and ended the frame. Genther's solo shot in the bottom of the second got UMass Lowell on the board. UAlbany added a sixth run before a nice diving grab by Trey Brown ended the third.
 
The Great Danes tacked on two runs in the top of the fifth inning to stretch the lead to seven runs. The visitors added two more in the sixth to take a commanding 10-1 lead. UMass Lowell's offense struggled to get going in the second game as UAlbany's Mariano had complete control on the mound.
 
UAlbany closed the game to earn an 11-1 win and split the Friday doubleheader. Game three is set for 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 24.