ALBANY, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (20-23, 9-9 AE) fell to the UAlbany Great Danes (10-28, 7-11 AE) 6-1 in game one of the weekend series on Friday afternoon.

"We fell behind too many hitters and gave them free baserunners," said head coach Nick Barese. "Offensively, we just hit into a lot of soft contact. We didn't play well enough to win in any facet."
 
Sophomore Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) had two hits, including a home run, while senior Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) and freshman Sean O'Leary (Foxboro, Mass.) tallied one hit each. Martinez had two RBI and one run and junior Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) scored one run.
 
Sophomore Michael Simes (Rutland, Mass.) went 3.2 innings with two strikeouts. Freshman James Capellupo (Hilton, N.Y.) and senior Andres Hulfachor (Nashua, N.H.) each struck out one on the afternoon. Freshman Cam Sime (Pittsfield, Mass.) went 1.1 inning and allowed three hits.
 
Simes escaped an early jam with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the game scoreless after the first inning. The River Hawks did not get the offense rolling early, going hitless through the first three frames. UAlbany took the lead in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly, but Simes escaped the jam to keep the deific to one.
 
Conor Kelly drew a leadoff walk before Alex Luccini reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners. Carlos Martinez singled to right field to score Kelly and tie the game. UAlbany tacked on five runs before Cam Sime took over on the mound and ended the fourth inning.
 
The offense continued to struggle with UAlbany's Banner pitching a strong game. The Great Danes held a five-run edge through six innings as James Capellupo entered the game for UMass Lowell. The freshman struck out one and Martinez threw a runner out at home in the seventh to keep the deficit at five.
 
UMass Lowell had a chance to cut into the lead late in the game, but the River Hawks left two runners stranded in the eighth. Andres Hulfachor came in for the bottom half of the frame and struck out one in a scoreless inning. Carlos Martinez hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth to cut the lead to four, but the River Hawks fell 6-2 in game one.  
 
The series concludes with a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field. The first game is set for 12:30 p.m.