River Hawks Host NJIT for America East Weekend Series

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LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell River Hawks baseball team (13-28, 6-12 AE) will have the week off before hosting the NJIT Highlanders (19-23, 8-7 AE) for a weekend series at LeLacheur Park.

Game one is set for Friday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m. Matt Draper (2-6) and Ryan Fischer (3-4) are the projected starters for game one.

Game 2: Joshua Becker (3-2) vs. Aidan Kidd (5-1)
Game 3: Miles Cota (2-0) vs. Joe Georgini (3-5)

LOOKING AT UMASS LOWELL
The River Hawks went 1-3 last week after falling to #11 Boston College in a midweek matchup before dropping the weekend series to Maine. UMass Lowell has two wins in its last eight contests and will look to get things back on track as the postseason approaches.

Gerry Siracusa is the only River Hawk hitting over .300 at this point in the season, batting .301 with team-highs in hits (52), doubles (14), RBIs (33), and total bases (75). Fritz Genther is hitting .299 with 41 hits and a team-high six home runs to go with 30 RBIs. Alex Luccini and Jacob Humphrey have found life of late, hitting .295 and .294, respectively. Humphrey has 47 hits and scored a team-high 36 runs while Luccini has brought in 28 runs on 36 hits and scored 21 runs of his own.

The River Hawks’ projected rotation for the weekend series will be Matt Draper, Joshua Becker, and Miles Cota. Draper fell to 2-6 in his start against Maine while Becker improved to 3-2 with the win over the Black Bears in game two of Friday’s doubleheader. Cota has impressed in his last few starts and has earned the spot in the weekend rotation. The senior is 2-0 this season with a 6.12 ERA and has 13 strikeouts in 25.0 innings.

Game Info vs. NJIT

Friday, May 5 vs. NJIT (6 p.m.)

LeLacheur Park (Lowell, Mass.)

Watch | Live Stats

Saturday, May 6 vs. NJIT (1 p.m.)

LeLacheur Park (Lowell, Mass.)

Watch | Live Stats

Sunday, May 7 vs. NJIT (12 p.m.)

LeLacheur Park (Lowell, Mass.)

Watch | Live Stats

LAST MEETING
The River Hawks and Highlanders last met in the America East playoffs last season. UMass Lowell defeated NJIT 13-8 to earn a place in the conference championship game. The River Hawks have won two of the last three meetings, but the Highlanders have a slight edge in the all-time series with a 5-4 record.

SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
NJIT has won four of its last six conference games with 2-1 series wins over Binghamton and Bryant. The Highlanders defeated Fordham on Tuesday afternoon with a 5-1 victory, for their third win in the last four games. The Highlanders rank first in the league in team ERA at 5.17 but rank last in the conference in team batting average, at .235. Luke Longo leads the team hitting .301 this season with 35 runs scored, 44 hits, 12 doubles, and 13 home runs. Aidan Kidd and Ryan Fischer are fourth and fifth in the league in ERA, at 3.95 and 3.97, respectively. Joe Georgini is ninth in the conference with an ERA of 4.75. Kidd also leads the league with 76 strikeouts while Fischer is sixth with 53 on the season.

CONFERENCE RANKS
Jacob Humphrey is seventh in the conference in runs scored, with 36 this season. Gerry Siracusa’s 52 hits have him seventh in the league while Humphrey sits 14^th with 47 hits. Siracusa and Fritz Genther are 8^th and 15^th in RBIs, with 33 and 30, respectively. Gerry Siracusa is also tied for the league lead with 13 doubles through 41 games. Alex Luccini has three triples on the year, putting him tied for second in the league.

Matt Draper is 13^th in ERA (5.40) and opposing batting average (.283) and sits second in innings pitched with 63.1. The veteran’s team-high 54 strikeouts have him fourth in the conference. Gerry Siracusa and Matt Tobin are two of 10 players in the league with a 1.000 fielding percentage this season.

STOLEN GOODS
The River Hawks are third in the conference with 57 stolen bases on 74 attempts this season, behind Maine (79-94) and NJIT (59-71). Jacob Humphrey leads the way with 21 stolen bases on 24 attempts while Robert Gallagher is 10-15. Fritz Genther and Gerry Siracusa have nine stolen bases each. On the defensive end, UMass Lowell has allowed 32 stolen bases on 46 attempts. Ryan Proto has caught nine runners stealing while Jake Fitzgibbons has thrown out five runners this season.