MALIBU, Calif. – Senior Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) had an impressive day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a home run, while also posting three runs and two RBI, as the UMass Lowell baseball team (6-7) escaped a close battle, 7-4, in extra innings against Pepperdine (3-14) on Friday afternoon.
"Gutsy, gutsy effort today," said Head Coach Nick Barese. "Started with Mucciarone doing what an ace is supposed to do. At the end of a long trip, with a thin bullpen he goes out and gives us 8 really strong innings. LeFrancois showed a lot of toughness pitching around some adversity, getting us back in the dugout and giving our offense a chance. Carlos came up huge with the homerun, and it's really good to see him starting to heat up. We put ourselves in a great spot to end the trip on a high note tomorrow."
Graduate student Nicholas Solorzano (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) posted the first home run of his River Hawk career, while also tallying two RBI today. Junior Alfred Mucciarone (Franklin, Mass.) got the start out of the bullpen, pitching 7.2 innings with two strikeouts and just two earned runs in his outing. Sophomore Jake LeFrancois (Worcester, Mass.) entered the game as the closer for UMass Lowell, earning his first victory of the season in 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit and no earned runs.
A clean inning for both sides in the first opened the game, as the defense collected a groundout to end the frame for the River Hawks. To begin the second, Martinez led off with a single to right center then stole second before Solorzano advanced the senior to third on a groundout. Martinez, eager to score, dashed home after a passed ball by the catcher to record the first run of the game for the River Hawks, 1-0. Pepperdine wasted no time though, evening the score in the bottom half after a single to center field, 1-1. Both teams recorded a hit in the third inning, but failed to drive in a run, keeping the score even.
Entering the fourth inning, the River Hawks stayed aggressive at the plate, but couldn't capitalize on any chances. Despite the Waves putting runners on all three bases in the home half of the fourth, a groundout to senior Joseph DeLanzo (Nutley, N.J.) led to a throw home to Solorzano for the second out, and junior Rowan Masse (Manchester, Conn.) closed the inning by catching a line drive. The defenses held firm again, wrapping up the fifth with a fly ball to center field. UMass Lowell was searching for hits in its next frame at bat, but couldn't bring a run across, as Mucciarone took the mound for the sixth inning of his outing, registering a strikeout before closing the frame on another fly ball. In the seventh inning, Martinez yet again led off with a single in a two-strike situation, with Solorzano next at the plate, cracking the ball high over the wall in center field to make it a 3-1 lead now for the River Hawks. An unbelievable diving catch by junior Ryan Strand (Goffstown, N.H.) was made to begin the home half of the seventh, before the inning ended on a fly ball down the right-field line.
Freshman Cal Chance (Wolcott, Conn.) battled five pitches as the leadoff hitter for the River Hawks in the eighth, eventually reaching first after hitting a single. With two outs, Martinez was aware, as the outfielder knocked his third single of the game, advancing Chance who then scored after a wild pitch to extend UMass Lowell's lead to 4-1. The Waves stuck with it offensively, adding a home run for a two-run difference before LeFrancois entered, sending the game into the ninth after a groundout. With one last chance for Pepperdine in the bottom half of the ninth, the home side scored two runs, 4-4, tying the game back up as the River Hawks head to extra innings.
Strand began the tenth with a single before Chance walked for UMass Lowell. Redshirt-sophomore Sean O'Leary (Foxboro, Mass.) followed, connecting on the first pitch and reaching first on a fielder's choice, as an error by the shortstop allowed Strand to score, giving the River Hawks a 5-4 lead. Next in the order, Martinez turned in a strong performance at the plate and punctuated it with a two-run blast over the center-field wall, helping seal a 7-4 10th-inning victory over Pepperdine on Friday afternoon.
The River Hawks are back Saturday, March 14, for a doubleheader against Pepperdine in the final games of the series in Malibu, Calif. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET, with the second game to follow at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
