FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Freshman Scott Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) went 4-5 with three RBIs to lead the UMass Lowell baseball team (8-13, 1-1 AE) to a 10-6 victory over the Fairfield Stags (7-18) on Tuesday afternoon in Connecticut.

"Really great team win. We had offensive production up and down the lineup led by Scott Donahue in his debut behind the plate," said head coach Nick Barese. "Brendan [Holland] started us off on the right foot pitching and [Jacob] Jette, [Zach] Fortuna and [Brian] Foley combined to finish the win." 
 
Donahue had two doubles and added one run. Senior Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) and sophomore Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) each added three hits on the day and combined for three doubles. Martinez added three runs and three RBIs while junior Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) tallied two hits and two RBIs. Senior Frtiz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) tallied his fourth homer of the year in the win.
 
Senior Zach Fortuna (Newburyport, Mass.) improved to 1-0 after 2.0 innings. Fortuna struck out three and allowed just one hit in two frames of work. Junior Brendan Holland (North Andover, Mass.) got the start and went 3.2 innings, striking out two. Sophomores Brian Foley (Milton, Mass.) and Jacob Jette (Franklin, Mass.) each went 1.0 inning and combined for two strikeouts.
 
The Stags took the lead in the first inning after back-to-back doubles opened the frame. Fairfield tallied twos runs on three hits in the first for the lead. Scott Donahue started the second with a double to center before junior Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) drew a walk to get two runners on for the River Hawks. Brandon Fish reached on a fielder's choice that scored Donahue to get UMass Lowell on the board.
 
Holland ended the second with a strikeout to keep UMass Lowell down by one. Graduate student Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) hit a two0out double before Carlos Martinez drove in the tying run with a double to right field. Scott Donahue drilled one up the middle to score Martinez and give the River Hawks their first lead of the day.
 
Fairfield tied the game with a leadoff solo homer in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman James Capellupo (Hilton, N.Y.) entered the game for Holland, who finished with two strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Donahue caught a runner stealing to end the fourth with the game tied at 3-3.
 
The hosts took the lead again in the fifth with three runs on two hits. Carlos Martinez and Conor Kelly drew walks and Scott Donahue doubled to left center to load the bases with nobody out in the sixth. The runners were left stranded, but the River Hawks loaded the bases again in the seventh, still down three. Carlos Martinez hit a single to right that scored two and made it a one-run game.
 
Brandon Fish hit an RBI single to tie the game at six and keep the bases loaded with one out in the seventh. Trey Brown drew a walk to give UMass Lowell the 7-6 lead. Zach Fortuna took over in the bottom half of the inning where he struck out one in a scoreless frame.
 
Fritz Genther's fourth home run of the year to start the eighth inning gave the River Hawks a two-run cushion. Carlos Martinez smacked one to the left field wall to put runners on second and third. Scott Donahue tallied his fourth hit of the day, a two-RBI single to push the lead to four runs.  
 
Fortuna pitched well in the eighth inning, striking out two in a scoreless frame to send the game into the ninth. The River Hawks could not add to the lead, sending the game into the bottom of the ninth. Brian Foley entered to close the game and did just that. The sophomore struck out one in a 1-2-3 inning to secure the win for the River Hawks.
 
Next up, UMass Lowell will visit NJIT for an America East weekend series. Game one is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 29 at the Yogi Berra Stadium.