VESTAL, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (9-17, 2-4 AE) fell 5-1 to the Binghamton Bearcats (12-13, 3-4 AE) in game one on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Michael Simes (Rutland, Mass.) had a strong showing with four strikeouts in five innings. Senior Brendan Williams (Auburn, N.Y.) got the start and went 3.0 innings.
 
Sophomore Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) tallied two hits and one run while seniors Frtiz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) and Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) each tallied one hit. Brown had the lone RBI for the River Hawks.
 
Binghamton took the lead in the bottom of the first behind a two-run home run. The defense behind Williams turned a beautiful 6-4-3 double play for the first two outs of the inning. The hosts doubled the lead with two runs with two outs in the second.
 
Michael Simes took over on the bump in the fourth inning and threw a scoreless frame with one strikeout. The River Hawks got on the board in the top of the fifth after Trey Brown's two-out single up the middle brought in Carlos Martinez.
 
Simes had another strong scoreless inning to close the fifth. The sophomore continued to pitch well and threw a 1-2-3 sixth with two strikeouts to keep UMass Lowell in the game. The Bearcats tacked on one more in the seventh to restore the four-run lead late in the game.
 
While the offense struggled to find a rhythm, Simes continued his strong outing with another scoreless frame in the eighth, giving the River Hawks one more chance to mount a comeback. UMass Lowell went down in order in the ninth and fell 5-1 in game one of the weekend series.
 
Sunday will be a doubleheader with the first game starting at noon at the Bearcats Sports Complex. The second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first.