River Hawks Host Maine in Final Home Conference Series

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LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell River Hawks baseball team (19-24, 9-12 AE) will close out the America East home slate this weekend when the Maine Black Bears (23-14, 18-3 AE) visit for a three-game series at LeLacheur Park.

Series Info

Friday, April 6 vs. Maine (6 p.m.)

LeLacheur Park (Lowell, Mass.)

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Probable Starters: Keevan (LHP) vs. Labonte (RHP)

Saturday, April 7 vs. Maine (1 p.m.)

LeLacheur Park (Lowell, Mass.)

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Probable Starters: Duke (LHP) vs. Leys (LHP)

Sunday, April 8 vs. Maine (12 p.m.)

LeLacheur Park (Lowell, Mass.)

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Probable Starters: Becker (RHP) vs. Erwin (RHP)

SERIES HISTORY

First Meeting: April 12, 2014 (Maine, 5-4)
Last Meeting: April 24, 2022 (Maine, 7-6)

This weekend will be the second series between UMass Lowell and Maine this season. The clubs met for a weekend series in Orono just two weeks ago where the Black Bears won all three meetings.

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS

The Black Bears are on a 13-game win streak and swept the Hartford Hawks last time out. Maine has the best record in America East at 18-3 and has already clinched a berth in the postseason tournament. The offense is led by Quinn McDaniel who is hitting at .346 on the season with 44 runs, 53 hits, and 33 RBIs. Joe Bramanti leads the team with 54 RBIs and 13 home runs this year. Bramanti is hitting .277 with 33 runs and 41 hits. On the mound, Jordan Schulefand leads the team with a 5-1 record this season with an ERA of 6.64. Brett Erwin has a team-high 60 strikeouts while Caleb Leys has tallied 53 strikeouts. The Black Bears have not lost a conference series this season and have only dropped games to NJIT and Stony Brook.

LOOKING AT UMASS LOWELL

The River Hawks enter the weekend after a 4-1 record last week. UMass Lowell picked up program-first wins against Harvard (12-4) on Tuesday and Boston College (10-0) on Wednesday before taking down conference rival UAlbany 2-1 in the weekend series. The River Hawks won games one and two of the series before falling in the finale. During the week, senior Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) led the team hitting .444 with five runs and four hits. Freshman Jacob Humphrey (Standish, ME.) continued his impressive rookie season, starting all five games and hitting .417 with 10 hits and two triples. The rookie recorded eight stolen bases, putting him in second place in the country with 38 stolen bases on the year. Fellow freshman Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) had a good week as well, hitting .389 in five games with eight runs, seven hits, two triples, and six RBIs.

ON THE MOUND

Freshman LJ Keevan (Holden, Mass.) continues his stellar rookie campaign, picking up a win over UAlbany on Friday night. The freshman threw 6.0 innings and struck out five, allowing just one hit and one walk. Keevan is now 4-3 on the year with 53 strikeouts and a 4.29 ERA. Graduate student Ryan Towle (Westfield, Mass.) picked up a win during the week, improving to 3-5 on the year. Towle leads the team with 61 strikeouts and has a 6.09 ERA. Freshman Hayden Duke (Mattapoisett, Mass.) earned two starts during the week and had an impressive outing against Boston College. The rookie threw 3.0 innings and struck out two, allowing just one hit.

STOLEN GOODS

As a unit, the River Hawks have stolen 108 bases on 132 attempts this season. The team is fifth in the country in the category and first in the league. Jacob Humphrey leads the team going 38-39 and sits second in the country and first in the conference in stolen bases. Robert Gallagher is 30-34 on the year and holds the sixth spot in the country and third in the conference. Base-running has been very important to the River Hawks’ offense this year with several players converting on stolen base attempts. Senior Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) is 14-17 and sophomore Fritz Genther (Kingston, N.Y.) is 13-16 this season. Alex Luccini is also 6-8 on the year.

A-OKKKKKK

Ryan Towle leads the pitching core with 61 strikeouts on the year. Joshua Becker and LJ Keevan have struck out 58 and 51 hitters, respectively, while sophomore Brendan Williams has sat 26 batters this season. Sophomore Michael Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) has struck out 25 and six other River Hawks have recorded double-digit strikeouts this year for UMass Lowell.

GOING YARD

UMass Lowell has hit a collective 37 home runs through 43 games in the 2022 campaign. Gerry Siracusa leads the way with eight homers. Fritz Genther and junior Cedric Rose (Pittsfield, Mass.) have each hit seven over the fences. Robert Gallagher has five home runs while freshman Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) have hit four and three home runs, respectively.