TULSA, Okla. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (4-10) fell in game one of the doubleheader against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (7-8) before a late rally in game two earned the split.

"The guys showed a lot of toughness today. For [Alex Luccini] to tie game one with two outs and two strikes was gritty," said head coach Nick Barese. "And then obviously what the offense did in game two shows how deep our lineup could be. From a pitching standpoint, guys like [Brendan Williams, Miles Cota, Jacob Jette and James Capellupo] kept things manageable and gave our offense a shot. Guys are starting to find their roles, and our identity is starting to come together."
 
Game 1
 
Junior Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) had two hits, including a two-run home run in the top of the ninth. Graduate student Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) tallied two hits while redshirt sophomore Spencer Aubin (Dover, N.H.) hit a solo home run. Senior Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) added one hit and one walk in game one.
 
Senior Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) went 5.2 innings and struck out two while Graduate student Miles Cota (Hampstead, NC) went 2.2 frames with two strikeouts.
 
The defense looked sharp early in the game with Trey Brown and senior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) making great plays for the first two outs of the first inning. Brendan Williams got off to a good start, making quick work of the Golden Eagles and ending the frame with a strikeout. Roddy Hernandez and Trey Brown both had two-outs hits to put runners on the corners, but both were left stranded. Oral Roberts took the lead on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second.
 
Spencer Aubin hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth, his first of the season, to tie the game, but the Golden Eagles answered in the bottom half of the inning with two runs to take a 3-1 lead. UMass Lowell's defense turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the fifth and keep the deficit to two runs.
 
Oral Roberts tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth with a double to center field. Miles Cota entered the game for Williams, who finished two strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Junior Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) scored on a passed ball in the top of the ninth to make it a two-run game. Alex Luccini's two-run home run with two outs tied the game and kept the River Hawks alive. Brian Foley entered the game for Cota in the bottom of the ninth just before a one-out single won it for the hosts.
 
Game 2
 
Trey Brown, Conor Kelly, Fritz Genther and Roddy Hernandez all tallied two hits in the comeback win. Hernandez and Genther added two runs each in the win. Freshman James Capellupo (Hilton, N.Y.) earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings. Senior Andres Hulfachor (Nashua, N.H.) struck out two in 1.0 inning of work while starting pitcher junior LJ Keevan (Holden, Mass.) went 4.1 innings and struck out one.
 
Oral Roberts took an early 1-0 lead on a walk in the bottom of the first inning. LJ Keevan picked up his first strikeout of the day in a scoreless second frame. The River Hawks' offense struggled to get going in game two, going without a hit in the first three innings. Keevan pitched well to keep UMass Lowell down by just one run through the third frame.
 
Trey Brown notched the River Hawks' first hit of game two with a leadoff single to center. The senior stole second but was left stranded. Oral Roberts added two runs in the bottom of the fifth on two hits before Andres Hulfachor came in for Keevan. The Golden Eagles tacked on another run to lead 4-0 through five. The host's offense stayed hot in the sixth, adding three more runs on two hits to push the lead to seven. Jacob Jette took over on the mound with one looking to close the inning. The sophomore got two quick outs to send the game to seventh.
 
Fritz Genther and freshman Sean O'Leary (Foxboro, Mass.) put together back-to-back hits in the seventh before Conor Kelly's single loaded the bases. Spencer Aubin was hit by a pitch to bring a run in before an infield single from senior Roddy Hernandez (Jersey City, N.J.) scored another run. Trey Brown and Alex Luccini drew walks to score two more as the visitors chipped away at the lead.
 
Carlos Martinez grounded out to third, but another run scored as the River Hawks got the lead down to two runs. Sean O'Leary then drew a walk before Luccini scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.
 
Roddy Hernandez gave UMass Lowell a 9-7 lead with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning. Frtiz Genther added a solo shot in the top of the ninth to give the River Hawks a 10-7 edge. James Capellupo threw two scoreless frames with one strikeout to secure the win and split the Saturday doubleheader.
 
Game three of the series is set for 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 10.