LOWELL, Mass. – Redshirt-sophomore Sean O'Leary (Foxboro, Mass.) went 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run and two runs scored, as the UMass Lowell baseball team (9-14, 2-3 America East) fell, 9–5, against Maine (4-20, 2-3 America East) in game two of the series on Saturday afternoon.
"Credit to senior right-handed pitcher Gianni Gambardella, he was fantastic," said Head Coach Nick Barese. "I think we were a little too easy in terms off, swinging at bad change ups that weren't close to the strike zone. We were taking fast balls, and for a guy like him, his change up is his best pitch, so your not in the spot to take fast balls in the strike zone often and be successful doing that. So, I thought we were a little passive on pitches to hit and then a little over aggressive on pitches we should've been laying off of. We had some opportunities to cash in and we just didn't do it early on. I thought as well as we hit situationally yesterday, we certainly weren't as good today. I thought in the eighth inning we had a chance with the bases loaded, and maybe we scratch a couple more across there with a hit to put some more pressure on them. Defensively, they out played us. played much cleaner and better defense than we did today."
Senior Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) added two hits and an RBI during his five at-bats, while graduate student Nicholas Solorzano (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) knocked a home run in the contest. Senior Brian Foley (Milton, Mass.) got his sixth start of the season on the mound, pitching 3.1 innings with four strikeouts. Sophomore Nolan Geisler (Bayonne, N.J.) went 3.2 innings with three strikeouts, while graduate student Frankie DeMaro (Newburgh, N.Y.) tossed 2.0 innings with two strikeouts, allowing no hits in his outing.
Foley got off to a hot start, recording three straight swinging strikeouts in the top of the first. However, Maine used an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly to take an early 2–0 lead in the second. UMass Lowell responded in the home half of the inning, though, when Solorzano launched the ball way over the right field wall for a solo home run, dropping the deficit to 2–1.
In the third, the Black Bears were able to once again create a two-run lead, this time at 3-1. Trying to get back in front, sophomore Brayden Cali (Taunton, Mass.) knocked a double, and junior Rowan Masse (Medfield, Mass.) reached on a walk to put two on with two outs in the bottom of the third. Cali then stole home, making it 3–2 through three complete.
The Black Bears would plate three more runs in the fourth, stretching their lead to 6–2. The score remained unchanged through the next two innings, as Geisler collected three straight outs in the sixth. Drifting into the next inning, Maine knocked a double and a single, expanding its lead to 8–2 in the seventh. DeMaro, now on the mound, made work of the opposition in the top half of the eighth, ending on a groundout to first.
UMass Lowell wasted no time in the final innings, leading off with a double from Masse before a walk from O'Leary. Martinez followed with a single into left-center, bringing in one run for the River Hawks before senior Joseph DeLanzo (Nutley, N.J.) ripped a two-out shot that scored O'Leary to cut the difference in half at 8-4.
With one inning to play, the Black Bears scored one final run, but DeMaro escaped the inning by striking out the final batter. In the bottom of the ninth, the River Hawks found a spark, as O'Leary sent a solo shot over the right-field wall, but Maine would hold on for the 9–5 outcome in game two on Saturday afternoon.
The River Hawks compete against Maine tomorrow, March 29, in the series finale at Edward A. LeLacheur Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. in Lowell, Mass.
