River Hawks Cruise Past UMBC, 8-3, in AE Opener

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BALTIMORE, Md. – The UMass Lowell baseball team never trailed en route to an 8-3 victory in its America East opener at UMBC on Saturday afternoon.

The River Hawks (3-16, 1-0) scored runs in four of the first five innings, including a four-spot in the fifth to take control with a 7-2 lead and pick up their first conference win of the season.

“This was a great team win to start to a very grueling conference schedule,” remarked Head Coach Ken Harring. “I was really proud of how our offense grinded at the plate, our lineup was filled up and down with quality at-bats. [Nick] Rand was good enough today and he really found his stuff in the fifth and sixth innings, while Kendall Pomeroy was fantastic and helped seal the deal.”

Vinnie Martin (Lodi, N.J.) opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second, and Andrew Roden (Sherill, N.Y.) doubled the lead with a RBI groundout in the third. Martin and Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) each drove in two, with Martin picking up three hits at the plate.

UMBC (5-10, 0-4) plated runs in the third and fourth innings, but behind Gallagher’s fly in the top of the fourth, the visitors held a 3-2 buffer.

UMass Lowell broke open the contest in the fifth, sparked by a one-out triple by Michael Young (Chester, N.J.) followed by a Roden single to plate the senior. In the moments after a Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass.) single and a wild pitch, Steven Passatempo (Medford, Mass.) and Martin delivered back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 6-2. Gallagher capped off the frame by reaching on a fielder’s choice to score Passatempo and extend the advantage.

Nick Rand (Hyde Park, N.Y.) scattered three hits over six innings and struck out six to keep the Retriever offense at bay. Gallagher capped off the scoring for the visitors with a swipe of home in the eighth to open an 8-2 gap.

The teams wrap up the series with a doubleheader set for noon tomorrow.