Boston College gets win over UMass Lowell 9-4

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Boston College gets win over UMass Lowell 9-4

Coming off a difficult weekend in which the Boston College Eagles were swept by the Florida State Seminoles, the Eagles hopped on a bus and made the short trip to Lowell MA. They went there to take on the UMass Lowell River Hawks, and the River Hawks were ready and waiting. They had just taken two out three from the Maine Black Bears in conference play last weekend. The series win has vaulted UMass Lowell into second place in America East play.

Here's the starting lineup for your River Hawks! #AEBASE pic.twitter.com/wmAJfUJ2pO

— UMass Lowell Baseball (@RiverHawkBB) April 24, 2018

They were backed by strong relief pitching from Zack Stromberg, Sean Hughes, and John Witkowski. The trio combined to go four and two-thirds of scoreless ball along with a two-hit four rbi afternoon from shortstop Jake Palomaki. The Eagles won this midweek game on the road 9-4 over the River Hawks.

The River Hawks scored first in their half of the first inning on a HR by Russ Olive off Eagles starting pitcher Jack Nelson. The bomb was his team-leading 11th of the season. BC got that run back in the second on a hustle double by Gian Martellini that was followed one out later by a bomb of a double to deep centerfield off the bat of Joe Suozzi. The run-scoring hit tied the game at 1-1.

Well Olive hit his 11th dinger, but we fell to the Eagles at The Ed, 9-4 #AEBASE pic.twitter.com/mAsm4GheGr

— UMass Lowell Baseball (@RiverHawkBB) April 24, 2018

The game stayed that way until the fifth when the Eagles got to the River Hawks starter John Polichetti. The first six hitters that Polichetti faced in that inning all reached base, five of them would score. Palomaki delivered a two-run single to right field and Jack Cunningham also came through with a run-producing single to center field. That hit would end the afternoon for Polichetti whose pitching line of four and a third, eight hits, six runs all earned is not pretty to look at.

The River Hawks got three of those runs back, in their half of the fifth. It appeared that Nelson, like his counterpart Polichetti, was tiring in the fifth inning. The first two River Hawks reached base via a single and a hit by pitch. After Nelson got Michael Young to fly out to left field, the bottom of the UMass Lowell lineup came through. SS Joey Castellanos ripped a single to left field to load the bases, then number nine hitter Vinnie Martin stroked a two-run single to right field. Leadoff batter Colby Maiola kept the line moving with a rbi single to RF to end the day for Nelson ( 4.1 IP, 6H, 4 ER) and bring the River Hawks back to within 6-4 after five.

Matt Kerin was brought on by River Hawks head coach Ken Harring to keep his team within striking distance of the Eagles. Unfortunately, it did not pan out. Kerin faced only three batters in the sixth and all reached base. Back to back free passes to Jake Alu and Dante Baldelli had the Eagles in business. Brian Dempsey was called on to bunt the runners along and got a bonus as well. His bunt toward the left side was fielded by Kerin (0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER) who threw widely to first. The errant throw allowed Alu to score from second base. Dempsey would move up on the bad throw to second base on the hit and error.

Mak is on 🔥🔥🔥

He chops one over the infield to plate ✌️!#Birdball 9
UMass Lowell 4
6th | 0 outs pic.twitter.com/DVje3EU7aT

— BC Baseball (@BCBirdBall) April 24, 2018

The River Hawks went back to their bullpen. This time they called on David Hoar III to keep things under control. The first man he faced was Palomaki who, as he did in the fifth, came through again. Another two-run single to left-center field scored both Baldelli and Dempsey to give the Eagles a 9-4 lead.

The Boston College bullpen did the rest limiting the UMass Lowell hitters to three hits over the final four-plus innings. Zack Stromberg, the first of the Eagles out of the pen, got the win and moved to 2-0 on the season. The losing pitcher was River Hawks starter John Polichetti whose record fell to 0-2.

Both teams will be on the road in conference play this weekend. Boston College will travel to South Bend to take on Notre Dame, while the River Hawks will head to Hartford to take on the Hawks in a first-place showdown in the America East.

BC’s record with the win is now 14-26, and with the loss, UMass Lowell drops to 17-20.