River Hawks Come Up Short in 2-1 Loss to St. John’s

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QUEENS, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell River Hawks baseball team fell, 2-1, in a hard-fought season opener vs. the St. John’s Red Storm on Friday afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

The River Hawks’ first matchup in 353 days featured the visitors nearly clawing back with a run scored in the 8th inning to cut the St. John lead in half, but ultimately the River Hawks couldn’t surmount the deficit.

“I’m very proud of the effort,” commented head coach Ken Harring. “Over 300 days since our last game, no fall and one day on a baseball field this spring. We pitched and played good defense, a recipe for winning baseball. We expect to come out tomorrow and even the series.”

Redshirt senior Collin Duffley (Manchester, N.H.) got the ball for UMass Lowell and went six strong in his season debut, scattering four hits and three walks while allowing two runs, one earned, striking out a pair. He was efficient, needing just 83 pitches through six innings before giving way to junior Sal Fusco (Colonie, N.Y.), who threw two perfect innings, striking out a pair to give the River Hawks a chance at a comeback.

The visitors saw offensive production from all three at the top of the order, with, Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.), Joey Castellanos (Nutley, N.J.), and Vinnie Martin (Lodi, N.J.) each netting a hit at the start of their 2021 campaign.

The Red Storm got on the board first in the fourth inning. After a four-pitch lead-off walk to David Glancy, a one-out single was compounded by a Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) error, putting runners on second and third. Glancy would come around to score one batter later on an RBI groundout to put St. John’s ahead, 1-0.

One inning later the Red Storm would extend the lead to two, with Glancy again playing a key role. A hit batter and walk put a pair on with one out when a Glancy single to left scored one, making it a 2-0 hole for the River Hawks.

UMass Lowell would threaten in the top of the sixth, putting a pair on with two out, but were unable to breakthrough. The River Hawks were able to get on the board in the eighth inning, however, taking advantage of a lead-off walk by Garrett Roberts (Stratham, N.H.). Roberts advanced to second on an errant pick-off attempt, coming around on a run-scoring single by Gallagher to cut the deficit in half.

Despite Fusco setting the Red Storm down, the River Hawks would go down in order in the ninth for a 2-1 final.

While Duffley kept St. John’s at bay, Red Storm starter Nick Mondak was just a bit better, holding the River Hawks scoreless through six innings, allowing just two hits and a walk, striking out seven to pick up the win.

The two teams will meet again in Queens for the second of the three-game series tomorrow with the first pitch slated for 3 p.m. on ESPN3.