UMass Lowell and U Albany Split a Doubleheader Saturday

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On a day in which both teams can make the same claim, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (16-25, 15-17 in AE) and the Great Danes (19-20, 17-15) traded wins on Saturday afternoon. Albany took game one 7-4 while Lowell took game two in dramatic fashion with a walk-off 4-3 victory. The split became even more important with news that Maine swept a twin-bill from Hartford in Connecticut. As we look forward to another day of baseball on Sunday, all four teams in Division A still have their fate in their hands.

Game one saw the Great Danes bats take advantage of some missed location pitching by River Hawk starter John Polchett, 0-2 on the year. His stat line was (4IP, 7H,4R,3ER, 1BB,1SO) as Albany scored in four straight innings to put the game out of reach. It was a 2-2 game heading to the fifth when the visitors took control of the seven-inning game one. After a fielding error by River Hawk second baseman Robby Hernandez on leadoff hitter Dolan Ocasal ground ball got things started, number two hitter Will Feil took Polichetti over the wall in center field for his third home run of the year. The blast broke the tie and gave Albany a 4-2 lead and ended Polichetti’s day. In the sixth, the Great Danes tacked on three more runs against the third pitcher of the day, Zach Fortuna, who contributed to his own problems by walking the first two hitters he faced then hitting the fourth batter of the inning. They would all come around to score on a bases-clearing double by Brad Malm who had a big day at the plate going 6-for-9 with a HR and six RBI.

Albany starter, Ray Webber, was solid pitching the first six innings allowing eight hits, three earned runs, four walks, and two strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season. Lowell did get runs in both the sixth and seventh innings but would squander a golden chance in loading the bases on two walks and a hit batsman in the fifth. But Weber got out of trouble by picking off Robert Gallagher at first, then getting Joey Castellanos to fly out to right to end the inning. On Polichetti’s start, coach Ken Harring said “his stuff was up in the zone.” He credited Weber with pitching “like a veteran.”

UMass Lowell sent Cam Seguin to the mound in game two. The coach thought he pitched well in his outing. He did get some defensive help that allowed him to stay in the game through six innings. A sweet double play turned by the middle infielders of Lowell, Hernandez, and SS Keegan Calero, helped keep the game close. Seguin’s outing was punctuated by the long ball as he gave up one to Malm in the third, as he went the opposite way to left over the wall. The solo shot tied the game at 2-2 in the third. After the home team took a 2-0 lead on a two-run single by Jimmy Sullivan in the first, Lowell retook the lead in the bottom of that inning on a RBI single by Sullivan (2-for-4, 3 RBI in game two). The River Hawks were up 3-2. The runs all came off the game two starter for Albany, Anthony Germinero (7IP, 7H, 3ER, 2BB, 1SO)

The game stayed tied until the ninth when the Great Danes had an excellent chance to take the lead on closer Henry Funaro. With a runner on first and no one out, Malm ripped a double to the leftcenter field gap. UMass Lowell CF Cam Climo raced over to get the baseball and fired a strike to cutoff man Calero who then threw a perfect throw to Protto at the plate to cut down the lead runner. The Hawks got some great at-bats from the bottom of their order to give them a chance at a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth. With one down vs reliever pitcher Rob Manetta, Ryan Protto singled up the middle. Number nine hitter Hernandez then worked a walk, as did Johnny Gilbride who was batting in the leadoff spot after taking over for Gallagher. With the bases loaded, Calero then lined out to third base. Up stepped Vinnie Martin who took a pitch from Manetta and lined it back up the middle to score Protto and give Lowell a walk-off 4-3 win. Coach Harring had some big time praise for his numbers eight and nine hitters after the game for getting that rally going.

On Sunday the two teams will be back at it again in what should be a couple of hard-fought games. First pitch is set for noon with Collin Duffley (3-6) getting the ball for UMass Lowell.