LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (21-24, 10-10 AE) will visit the Massachusetts Minutemen (21-23, 11-7 A10) on Tuesday afternoon before hosting the NJIT Highlanders (19-24, 8-9 AE) for the River Hawks' final America East weekend series of the regular season.
May 7 at Massachusetts – 3:00 p.m.
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May 10 vs. NJIT – 3:00 p.m.
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May 11 vs. NJIT – 1:00 p.m.
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May 12 vs. NJIT – 12:00 p.m.
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LAST TIME OUT
The River Hawks went 2-2 last week, beating Boston College mid-week and falling 2-1 to UAlbany over the weekend series.
Carlos Martinez went 3-5 with two runs and two RBI against the Eagles while
Frankie Venezia improved to 2-1 on the year with the win. Over the weekend, UAlbany took the first two games of the series. UMass Lowell ended the weekend with a big 11-1 win behind
Fritz Genther's 4-5 afternoon.
Miles Cota improved to 2-1 on the season after going 7.0 innings and striking out six, allowing just four hits.
Jack Sefrino and
Zach Fortuna went the final two innings and shut the door to secure an important conference win.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
Massachusetts is one a three-game win streak and has won seven of its last eight games. The Minutemen fell to Quinnipiac mid-week before sweeping St. Bonaventure over the weekend. Massachusetts it 8-3 at Earl Lorden Field this year, winning six of the last seven home games. Austin Burgess leads the team hitting .320 while the offense has put up 48 homers this year. As a unit, Massachusetts has 66 doubles through 44 games, presenting a challenge up and down the lineup. Leif Bigelow leads the pitching staff with a 2.80 ERA while Robbie O'Connor has a team-high 40 strikeouts.
MATHCUP HISTORY
The River Hawks are 4-1 in the Kennedy Cup battle since 2016. UMass Lowell won three straight against Massachusetts before the Minutemen won their first game of the matchup in 2022. The River Hawks won last season's meeting 9-8 in Lowell in walk off fashion.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
NJIT took the weekend series at Bryant 2-1, handing the Bulldogs their first conference series loss of the season. The Highlanders fell in game one and swept the Saturday doubleheader to take the series. Cade Ladehoff leads the team hitting .319 with 60 hits, two triples, 10 homers and 47 RBI. NJIT is likely to go with Aiden Kidd, Branden Peterson, and Holden de Jong over the weekend on the mound. Kidd has a 5.88 ERA with 76 strikeouts while de Jong has 51 strikeouts with a 6.08 ERA. Peterson's ERA is 8.39 in 12 appearances, and he has struck out 42 hitters.
MATHCUP HISTORY
The River Hawks and Highlanders met earlier this season where NJIT came away with the 2-1 series win. After falling in the first two games earlier this season, the River Hawks took game three 7-3 in Little Falls, New Jersey. Since 2021, UMass Lowell is 7-7 against NJIT and 4-3 at home.
A LOOK AT THE LEAGUE
The postseason tournament is on the horizon as the final weeks of conference play approach. Bryant remains atop the league at 14-4 with UMBC and UMass Lowell right behind them. NJIT is 8-9 in fourth with UAlbany now up to fifth at 8-12. Binghamton and Maine round out the standings, sitting at 7-11 and 6-11, respectively.
The River Hawks have the best team batting average in the league at .277 and lead the conference in hits with 434. UMass Lowell's pitching is fourth in the league with a team ERA of 6.68 and a .971 fielding percentage has the River Hawks second in the conference.
NATIONAL RANKS
Carlos Martinez has tallied a team-high 24 doubles this season, one shy of the UMass Lowell program record in a season. The sophomore currently leads the nation in doubles and will look to break the program record before the end of the season.
