OLIVE SETS HR MARK, BUT RIVER HAWKS FALL IN DH

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OLIVE SETS HR MARK, BUT RIVER HAWKS FALL IN DH

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Russ Olive (Chelmsford, Mass.) hit his 12th home run of the season to set the new program Division I single-season high, but the UMass Lowell baseball team dropped Saturday’s doubleheader to Hartford.

The River Hawks (17-22, 8-9) led in both contests but saw the Hawks (16-24, 10-4) rally for a 13-9 victory in the opener and a 6-3 win in the nightcap.

GAME 1
Olive’s record blast gave the visitors a 9-3 advantage in the fourth, but Hartford scored the next 10 runs to pick up the win.

UMass Lowell jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first, plating runs on a bases-loaded walk, hit by pitch and a RBI single from Michael Young (Chester, N.J.). Hartford answered with three of its own in the home half, by way of two hits and an error.

Colby Maiola (North Reading, Mass.) gave the River Hawks the lead right back in the second with his sixth long ball of the season. The scoring continued for the guests as they added to the scoreboard in the first four innings, including a pair on a Joey Castellanos (Nutley, N.J.) sacrifice fly in the third.

The hosts knotted the game with six right after Olive’s blast with a homer of their own and a pair of run-scoring two-baggers.

The contest remained even until the eighth when Hartford took control with a bases-loaded walk and a bases-clearing double.

GAME 2
The third UMass Lowell homer of the afternoon gave the River Hawks a 1-0 in the first as Mark Tumosa (Willington, Conn.) sent a solo shot over the fence.

Nick Campana hit his first of two long balls in the contest to knot it up at 1-1, but the visitors came back with two in the second frame.

The first four River Hawks reached, including a RBI single from Kyle Maurice(Exeter, N.H.) to put the visitors on top. Maiola added a sac fly to up the buffer to 3-1.

In a four-run sixth, Campana added a three-run homer to jump the Hawks ahead, 5-3, and Ashton Bardzell added a solo home run for the contest’s final run.

The series finale is set for 12 p.m. tomorrow.