LOWELL, Mass. – Another quick turnaround for the UMass Lowell baseball team (14-19, 6-5 AE) as the River Hawks return to action to visit Merrimack (13-20, 9-9 NEC) on Tuesday before traveling to Bryant (22-11, 11-1 AE) for a weekend series.
April 16 at Merrimack – 3:00 p.m.
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April 19 at Bryant – 3:00 p.m.
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April 20 at Bryant – 1:00 p.m.
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April 21 at Bryant – 1:00 p.m.
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LAST TIME OUT
The River Hawks went 3-2 last week with a conference series win. UMass Lowell fell to Merrimack on Tuesday before a walk-off win against Stonehill on Wednesday afternoon at LeLacheur Park. The Maine Black Bears came to town for a weekend series where they took game one before the River Hawks evened the series with an 11-10 walk-off win on Saturday. The offense came alive late with an eight-run eighth inning in game three to lift UMass Lowell to a 14-9 win and 2-1 series victory.
UMass Lowell got offense up and down the lineup with
Fritz Genther,
Alex Luccini and
Carlos Martinez piling up runs.
Trey Brown has been a solid leadoff man this season and
Ryan Strand tallied his first career hit against the Black Bears. On the mound,
Zach Fortuna continues to impress and the bullpen contributions from Kevin Zarnoch and
Andres Hulfachor as well as a strong midweek performance from
Brendan Holland have the River Hawks trending upward.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Merrimack was on a seven-game win streak following its victory over UMass Lowell last week and has since dropped three straight games against Delaware State. Christian Gemelli leads the team hitting .350 through 32 games while the offense has also seen solid production from six other hitters. The Warriors have hit 45 homers as a unit this season. Brayden Ryan's 3.40 ERA and 3-1 record leads the pitching staff this season.
MATCHUP HISTORY
The Warriors took the previous meeting this season 9-5 on April 9 at LeLacheur Park. The River Hawks will look to exact their revenge and even the season series.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Bryant has had a fantastic season so far, sitting at 22-11 overall with an 11-1 mark in league play. The Bulldogs have swept UAlbany, UMBC and Binghamton with the lone loss coming in a 2-1 series win over Maine. They hold a 14-3 record at home and are currently on a three-game win streak. Bryant has best team ERA in the league at 5.02 and sits fifth with a .265 team batting average. Gavin Noriega and Zac Zyons are the top two hitters in the conference, hitting .356 and .351, respectively. Luke Delongchamp and Tyler Horvat have the top two ERA's in the league at 2.54 and 3.10, respectively. Austin Wainer has been solid on the mound as well, totaling 39 strikeouts in 44.2 innings.
MATCHUP HISTORY
The River Hawks dominated the matchup last season, sweeping the regular season series and outscoring Bryant 42-16. UMass Lowell defeated Bryant 6-0 in the first game of the America East Tournament last season to push the River Hawks' win streak over the Bulldogs to six games.
