MALIBU, Calif. – Junior Scott Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) was stellar at the plate, as the catcher went 7-for-9 with six RBI to lead the UMass Lowell baseball team (7-8) to split a twin bill at Pepperdine (4-15) and secure a series victory on Saturday.
The River Hawks won the first game of the day on Saturday, 5-4, before falling, 13-8, in the finale to finish the weekend, 3-1, against Pepperdine.
"Good series win, and overall a good west coast trip," said Head Coach Nick Barese. "I thought game one was a great win. Geisler did a fantastic job out of the pen, and then to execute offensively like we did in the ninth says a lot about our resiliency."
Graduate student Nicholas Solorzano (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) was perfect at plate, going 3-for-3 with a home run, while senior Zachary Scott (Lunenburg, Mass.) went 3-for-7 with a run and an RBI and redshirt-sophomore Sean O'Leary (Foxboro, Mass.) went 3-for-5 with two runs.
On the mound, senior Brian Foley (Milton, Mass.) started the first game of the doubleheader, pitching 3.2 innings with six strikeouts, while senior Jacob Jette (Franklin, Mass.) was on the mound in the second game, going 2.0 innings. Sophomore Nolan Geisler (Bayonne, N.J.) recorded the game one win, pitching 5.1 innings with two strikeouts and allowing just one earned run. Freshman Tyler Dunlea (Attleboro, Mass.) saw 3.0 innings on the bump with one hit, one earned run and three strikeouts.
Freshman Cal Chance (Wolcott, Conn.) began the first game of the doubleheader reaching on a fielder's choice, but the Waves kept the River Hawks off the board in the first inning. Starting his outing strong in the bottom half, Foley struck out three batters to bring UMass Lowell back to the dish. Donahue and graduate student Jorge Burgos (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) then logged singles in the second, but Pepperdine ended the inning on a double play.
Foley continued to control the game from the mound, forcing two more quick innings for Pepperdine, closing the third on a strike out looking. In the top of the fourth, junior Rowan Masse (Manchester, Conn.) walked and O'Leary was hit by a pitch before Donahue cracked a single to right field to give UMass Lowell a 1-0 lead. However, Pepperdine retaliated in the home half of the inning to pull in front, 4-1.
Although the fifth was scoreless for either side, the River Hawks closed the gap in the sixth after O'Leary singled and senior Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) walked with no outs. Donahue would battle through a seven-pitch at-bat to smack a double to left field for two runs and cut the deficit to 4-3.
In the seventh, Geisler registered back-to-back strikeouts to keep the score the same. After a quiet eighth for both teams, the River Hawks had one last opportunity at a comeback late in the game. Chance led off with a single in the ninth, with Masse reaching on a bunt after an error by the pitcher. O'Leary laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Chance and Masse to allow Martinez to drive both runners home on a deep single to left field for the 5-4 lead. Geisler then shut the door on the first three batters he faced in the ninth, helping secure the come -from-behind decision.
The second game of the doubleheader started with a quick first frame before Solorzano blasted a homer in his first at-bat and sophomore Brayden Cali (Taunton, Mass.) drove an RBI single to left field for an early 2-0 lead. The Waves responded in the bottom of the second with a home run of their own to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
Donahue continued his fantastic day offensively by adding another RBI in the third on a two-out base hit, regaining a two-run edge for the visitors at 3-1. Pepperdine countered once again, though, rallying for six runs on six hits to pull ahead, 7-3 edge through three innings. Scott and Chance both logged doubles in the fourth to get back one run. Freshman Jack Forgues (Leominster, Mass.) then knocked a single to center field, plating Chance to cut the difference to two runs, 7-5. However, the Waves had an answer in their next at-bat, posting three runs in the to push the margin back to 10-5 after four innings.
Although the River Hawks put two runners on base in the fifth, Pepperdine was able to extinguish the opportunity before stretching the score to 12-5. The score stayed the same after the sixth, with UMass Lowell searching for a late comeback in the seventh after filling the bases with a double from Solorzano, and singles from Donahue and senior Joseph DeLanzo (Nutley, N.J.) with one out. Up next, Scott registered his second hit of the game with a RBI double to make it 12-6.
Pepperdine would add another home run in the seventh to extend its lead to 13-6. The River Hawks gave one final push on the offense, as Donahue feasted at the plate yet again, collecting two RBI on a single to center field in the eighth, but the Waves closed off any other opportunities, eventually taking a 13-8 decision in the series finale.
The River Hawks will take a few days off before returning to action for a midweek contest Wednesday, March 18, against Boston College in Brighton, Mass. The contest is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Harrington Athletics Village.
