River Hawks Clipped by No. 22 UConn, 9-4

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STORRS, Conn. – The UMass Lowell baseball team was defeated, 9-4, on the road at No. 22 UConn in non-conference action on Wednesday afternoon.

Steven Passatempo (Medford, Mass.) became the third player in program history to hit 30 or more home runs with his fourth homer of the season for the River Hawks (6-21). Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass.) drove in two, and six different players recorded a hit.

“Tough conditions out here today with the wind, but I thought we competed a lot better than we did yesterday,” noted Head Coach Ken Harring. “Walks are still the key, but I thought Matt Aronson was really good with nothing to show for it as they scored seven unearned on him. We moved some guys around, but we still have to make the routine plays to get us out of innings and we didn’t do that today against a really good team.”

After a scoreless two innings, the Huskies (18-10) plated the first two runs of the ballgame in the bottom of the third on a bloop single and a sacrifice fly.

UMass Lowell came right back in the fourth with a pair to draw even, sparked by Passatempo’s solo shot to center field. The next batter, Vinnie Martin (Lodi, N.J.), singled and stood on third following a steal and an error and came across to score on Ted Leathersich’s (Beverly, Mass.) double under the glove of the first baseman.

UConn retook the lead with a two-out rally in the bottom half of the inning that scored a pair of runs to move in front, 4-2. The hosts added another three in their fifth inning to extend their advantage.

Climo ripped a two-run double to cut the deficit to 8-4 in the seventh, plating Mark Tumosa (Willington, Conn.) and Ciaran Devenney (Manalapan, N.J.).

The teams combined for nine errors and only three earned runs, as the first seven runs for the hosts were charged as unearned.

The River Hawks welcome UAlbany for a three-game set at LeLacheur Park over the weekend.