LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Joseph DeLanzo (Nutley, N.J.) registered a double and an RBI, as the UMass Lowell baseball team (16–22, 6–11 AE) kept pace with Bryant (21–18, 9–8 AE) throughout the game, but ultimately fell, 5–3, at Edward A. LeLacheur Park on Saturday.
"I thought Jette was great," said Head Coach Nick Barese "He did a really good job keeping guys off balance all day. They had a lot of really comfortable at bats against him, so I thought Jette did a really good job. For us today in conference play, ultimately, like I said to the guys after the game, Bryant made a couple more plays defensively then we did, and they had a couple more big hits than we did. We just struggled to execute with runners on base, and they did a better job today than we did. But that's what we have to do moving forward. We just got to clean that stuff up, and obviously we're running out of time to do that."
Freshman Cal Chance (Wolcott, Conn.) and redshirt-sophomore Sean O'Leary (Foxboro, Mass.) each tallied a hit and a run, while senior Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) posted a hit and an RBI in the game. Senior Jacob Jette (Franklin, Mass.) got the start on the bump, pitching six innings with three strikeouts, and allowed just two earned runs in his outing. Also pitching, graduate student Frankie DeMaro (Newburgh, N.Y.) went one inning, leaving the opposition hitless and scoreless.
Jette started strong on the mound, going 1-2-3 in the second, including a swinging strikeout. In the home half of the inning, graduate student Nicholas Solorzano (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) hit a single and junior Rowan Masse (Manchester, Conn.) reached on a walk, but the Bulldogs stranded both runners. The River Hawks responded with sharp defense in the third, cutting down a runner attempting to steal second to end the visitors' half. With one out in the bottom of the third, O'Leary and senior Zachary Scott (Lunenburg, Mass.) each ripped singles and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. After Chance walked to load the bases, Martinez lined the ball to left field, scoring O'Leary on a sacrifice fly for an early, 1–0 lead.
The fourth inning was scoreless for either team, although UMass Lowell put two on base. Bryant found its opportunity to capitalize at the plate in the fifth, scoring three runs to pull ahead, 3–1. Chance answered with a double in his next at-bat and moved to third on a groundout before junior Scott Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) lifted a sacrifice fly, trimming the score to 3–2 in the fifth inning. The next frame passed quickly for both teams, as Jette recorded a strikeout to hold the visitors scoreless.
Sophomore Nolan Geisler (Bayonne, N.J.) took the mound in relief in the seventh and efficiently retired the side, highlighted by a big strikeout. The Bulldogs collected back-to-back outs to open the bottom of the inning, but Martinez followed with a single through the left side and then stole a base. However, Bryant added a two-run double in the eighth to push the lead to 5–2. In the River Hawks' next at-bats, Masse crowded first on a fielder's choice, setting the stage for DeLanzo, who cracked an RBI double to left-center to put the River Hawks within two. With one inning remaining, DeMaro sat the opposition down in order, but Bryant held on in the bottom of the ninth to seal a 5–3 outcome on Saturday afternoon.
The River Hawks look ahead to the final game of the series against Bryant on Sunday, April 26, at Edward A. LeLacheur Park. The contest is set to begin at 12 p.m. in Lowell, Mass.
