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UMass Lowell drops double-header in home opener

UMass Lowell baseball felled by the Black Bears

Baseball is a game of inches and in few places was this more evident than at LeLacheur Park on Saturday afternoon. In the second game of a double header against the visiting Maine Black Bears, the River Hawks fell 3-2. But it could have been a different story, if not for those pesky inches.

It was inches that separated the eventual game winning hit off the bat of Maine’s Sean Bussey from the diving attempt of second baseman Kelly Rooney. And it was also inches that separated Rooney’s based loaded line drive in the eighth from breaking the game open. Unfortunately for the River Hawks and Rooney, that liner was snagged on a diving catch by Maine center fielder Colin Gay.
“Colin Gay made a heck of a play on a ball that would have won the game for us, but that is baseball,” UMass Lowell Head Coach Ken Harring told goriverhawks.com.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 10-12 on the season and Maine improved to 12-9. The conference records stand at 3-4 and 3-5, respectively.

The Black Bears jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Maine’s Troy Black doubled to score Nick Bernardo. UMass Lowell senior starting pitcher, Mike Calzetta, was also touched for a run in the following frame when Maine catcher, Jonathan Salcedo poked an RBI single to right field.

After a shaky first two innings, Calzetta settled down, however, and did not yield another run. He finished the game with a solid outing of 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and fanning four.

While Calzetta faltered in the early going, Maine’s starter, Shaun Coughlin, came out of the gates locked in. Coughlin stymied the River Hawks for the first four innings, holding the home team without a run.

Yet, unlike his counterpart, Coughlin tired as the game wore on and the River Hawks capitalized. UMass Lowell broke through in the fifth inning with a pair of runs to knot the score at 2-2. Ian Strom and Jacob O’Keefe led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Kelly Rooney then used a well-placed sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position for Luke Reynolds.

In this big spot, Coughlin ran into some control issues, bouncing a pitch to the backstop that allowed Strom to scamper home for the first River Hawks run. After Reynolds drew a walk, establishing runners at first and third, Joe Consolmagno stepped up with a chance to do more damage.

The sophomore right fielder delivered by scorching an RBI single to plating O’Keefe. The promising rally ended, however, when Matt Sanchez grounded into a double play.

Coughlin’s day concluded after the fifth as he finished having allowed seven hits to go with four strike out. With both starters performing equally, the result of the game would hinge upon the bullpens.

After Calzetta, the River Hawks turned to sophomore lefty Thulani Denard. Denard shut down the Black Bears in the seventh and eighth innings, but ran into trouble in the ninth. He allowed a hit and a walk to begin the frame before the big blow was delivered in the form of the RBI single from Bussey.

UMass Lowell had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Reynolds singled to lead off, advanced to second on a passed ball then moved to third on a ground out.

However, Maine pitcher, Charlie Butler, worked his way out of the jam and was able to prevent the River Hawks from pushing a run across.

Strom had a strong performance at the plate, collecting three hits in the game and scoring a run.

Reynolds also played well, recording two hits and reaching on a walk.

After the Maine series, the River Hawks will play at home next against Stony Brook University on Friday April 18.