Season Recap: River Hawks make strides in first year of eligibility

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SEASON RECAP: RIVER HAWKS MAKE STRIDES IN FIRST YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY

The UMass Lowell baseball team entered the 2018 season with a sense of new beginnings and optimism with the program’s first chance at playing in Division I postseason for the first time after the 55-game regular season.

The River Hawks split the first four games of the year in Charleston S.C., taking two from Morehead State and dropping a pair to Ball State. Behind the debut of freshman Henry Funaro, the pitching staff came within one strike from a no-hitter, defeating the Eagles 2-1 on February 17. After a weekend series at Vanderbilt (Feb. 23-25), the River Hawks headed to Winston-Salem, N.C. and picked up the program’s second win against an ACC team. In the 5-3 victory against Wake Forest, the boys in blue jumped out to a 4-0 lead and Dan Cunico picked up his first career win.

Following a pair of wins at VMI, a 9-0 shutout against Gardner-Webb and a 7-6 comeback victory at James Madison the River Hawks entered their first conference weekend at 7-10. Behind a walk-off walk in the series opener and a 1-0 victory to take the set against UAlbany in late March, UMass Lowell jumped out to a 2-1 record in the America East. Mark Tumosa drew the two-out bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 11th inning to pick up the first win.

The River Hawks’ late-season run was sparked by a five-game winning streak from April 10-April 14, that included a three-game sweep of UMBC to even the conference record at 6-6. UMass Lowell outscored opponents 36-12 in the spurt that included wins against Dartmouth and Massachusetts, as well.

After beginning May with another series victory over the Great Danes, UMass Lowell clinched its first-ever berth to the America East Championship and entered the final weekend of the regular season with a chance to earn a first-round bye.

Needing to take two of three from Stony Brook to secure the second seed, the River Hawks overcame a 3-0 shutout in the opener to outscore the Seawolves 7-3 in the final two contests to head into the conference championship with all the momentum. The 13 America East wins were the most by the River Hawks since joining the conference.

The program’s first America East Championship started off on a positive note with a 4-0 shutout of UAlbany. Andrew Ryan earned the win with a five-hit complete game shutout. Joey Castellanos drove in two runs and picked up two hits to lead the way at the plate. Cam Climo scored twice and recorded two hits as well.

Unfortunately, the River Hawks’ season came to a close with a pair of one-run losses to Hartford and Stony Brook on May 25. Andrew Ryan and Ben Prada earned All-Tournament honors.

On the eve of the America East Championship, six River Hawk players were honored with All-Conference honors, earning spots on the First Team, Second Team and All-Rookie Team.

First Team: Andrew Ryan, Russ Olive

Second Team: Colby Maiola, Steve Passatempo, Cam Climo

All-Rookie Team: Henry Funaro

The awards continued for Olive as he was named to the NEIBA All-New England Second Team and the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team. The junior finished the season batting .359 and set the program’s Division I single-season record with 13 home runs. He added 71 hits, 13 doubles, and 37 RBI while scoring 43 runs as well.

For the fourth consecutive season, the River Hawks had a player selected in the MLB Draft as Russ Olive was picked in the 29th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. Olive wraps up his UMass Lowell career as the program’s DI single-season leader with 31 career doubles. He sits second with 19 homers and ranks ninth all-time.

Senior Andrew Ryan joined Olive in the pro ranks, signing a free agent deal with the New York Mets on June 10th. The right-handed pitcher ends his four-year career as the program’s Division I leader in wins (15), strikeouts (223), innings (292.1), ERA (3.23) and is tied atop the rankings with three complete games.

On May 18, the River Hawks hosted a special pre-game graduation ceremony for the senior class.