River Hawks Outscore Binghamton 16-2 in Doubleheader Sweep

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LOWELL, Mass. — Ciaran Devenney (Manalapan, N.J.) hit three home runs and drove in seven RBI as the UMass Lowell baseball team took both ends of the twin bill against Binghamton on Saturday at LeLacheur Park, outscoring the visitors 16-2.

The River Hawks (9-26, 6-8) ran away with game one, 12-2, and blanked the Bearcats (14-17, 4-6), 4-0, to complete the first America East doubleheader sweep of the season for UMass Lowell.

“We got off to a good start out there behind Nick Rand’s first inning and Robert Gallagher’s triple,” remarked Head Coach Ken Harring. “We scored runs in six innings and that is tough for a team to come back from, we swung the bats well and Rand gave us his best effort of all season. In game two, we went up against arguably the pitcher of the year in the conference so we knew what we were going up against, and Roden had the big two-out hit followed by the two-run shot by Devenney. Ciaran’s three home run performance is the kind of thing you need to pull out a sweep.”

Game 1
The hosts scored the contest’s first nine runs, including five in the opening three innings, to take control early and coast to the game one victory. Starter Nick Rand (Hyde Park, N.Y.) allowed two runs in seven innings and struck out a career-high 10 to pick up his third win of the season.

Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) began the day with a triple in the bottom of the first and scored on the very next pitch on a single from Oscar Marchena (Miami, Fla.), and Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass.) drove in Marchena all the way from first on a single up the gap to extend the lead.

Devenney drove in the next four runs for the River Hawks behind a two-run home run in the second, a hit-by-pitch in the third and a single to plate Climo in the sixth to extend the buffer to 6-0 in the fifth. Following his single, Marchena cleared the bases with a triple off the wall in center to open up a 9-0 lead for the hosts.

Alex Baratta put Binghamton on the board with a two-run home run in sixth on the only mistake Rand made all day.

Trip McCaffrey (Mullica Hill, N.J.) drove in the three final runs for UMass Lowell, including two on a single in the sixth to regain the hosts nine-run edge. Following a hit batter and back-to-back walks with two outs, the sophomore placed a base knock between the left side of the infield. In the eighth, he reached second on a double that barely reached that outfield grass to score Devenney.

Including his homer, the catcher went 3-for-3 with four RBI and scored three times, as well. Marchena and Climo recorded three hits, with Marchena driving in four in the victory.

Game 2
Andrew Roden’s (Sherill, N.Y.) RBI single broke a scoreless tie in the fourth frame, and Devenney sent his second homer of the day to left to cap the three-run inning and provide all the support the duo of Connor Metelski (Wall, N.J.) and Joshua Becker (Burlington, Mass.) needed to secure the two-win day.

Devenney sent his third long ball off one of the advertisements over the yellow line in left that was ruled a double but overturned after a meeting of the umpires to add insurance in the sixth stanza.

Metelski went 4.1 innings to earn the victory, and Becker went 2.2 to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Binghamton stranded 10 runners in the second game, for a total of 19 over the two games.

The series is scheduled to conclude tomorrow afternoon, but with inclement weather in the area, a decision will be made in the morning.