River Hawks Defeated 17-6 by Rhode Island

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LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team suffered a 17-6 non-conference defeat to Rhode Island on Tuesday night.

The River Hawks (6-20) saw Trip McCaffrey (Mullica Hill, N.J.) and Kyle Maurice (Exeter, N.H.) both pick up a pair of hits in the effort, and six different players scored as well.

“Obviously a tough one out there,” said Head Coach Ken Harring. “It is the walks that are crushing us right now and we all know it. You talk to the team after and they know it, everyone sees what that issue is but it is like a disease that we can’t fix right now. When you give up 17 runs on 10 hits, it’s tough to swallow but these guys are working their tails off.”

After URI (11-13) scored in the top of the first, Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass.) hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in left-center to tie the game at 1-1.

The Rams retook the lead with four runs in the second, but once again the hosts answered with offense of their own, plating two to pull within 5-3.

UMass Lowell saw its first three batters of the reach, sparked by a Vinnie Martin (Lodi, N.J.) leadoff double and an Oscar Marchena (Miami, Fla.) RBI single. After two outs, including a fly out that advanced Marchena to third, McCaffrey ripped a single to left to cut the River Hawk deficit to a pair.

Following a missed opportunity to knot the game in the fourth inning for the hosts, Rhode Island plated six in the sixth to break open the game, taking an 11-3 advantage.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ted Leathersich (Beverly, Mass.) and Matt DeBenedetto (North Reading, Mass.) drew pinch-hit walks before Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) doubled home Leathersich. DeBenedetto later scored on a wild pitch, and Siracusa crossed the plate on a Joey Castellanos (Nutley, N.J.) sacrifice fly.

UMass Lowell treks to UConn for tomorrow’s 3 p.m. start in Storrs against the Huskies.