UMass Lowell Walks Off UMass Amherst 9-8 on Humphrey HR

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On Tuesday night at LeLacheur Park, there was the good and bad of a mid-week game between the UMass Lowell River Hawks (17-28) and the UMass Amherst Minutemen (11-30). For eight innings, the River Hawks were in control of the game. Then came the ninth and everything unraveled for them. The good news for UMass Lowell is that Jacob Humphrey plays for them. His leadoff home run to left in the bottom of the ninth gave his team their first walk-off win of the season. The 9-8 win over the Minutemen also secured the Kennedy Cup for the school.

The way the first eight innings went, a last at-bat for the River Hawks seemed like the furthest thing from anyone’s mind. That is the beauty of the game, you must get 27 outs to take home a win and the River Hawks came way too close to not being able to do that. Give the Minutemen credit, they could have just taken their last swings in the ninth and not worried about the results. Instead, they went the other way and ground out at-bats, kept the line moving and in the process came up with a six-run ninth that forced UMass Lowell to answer in the bottom of the ninth. River Hawks head coach Ken Harring was not pleased with how the game was extended. But he was happy with the result.

Frankie Venezia got the start for the River Hawks and looked good in his two innings. He faced six batters and retired all six. When asked after the game about a role for Venezia. Harring said “Middle relief, a guy who throws strikes and could go through a batting order once.” The River Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the first. Facing Tyler Dalton both Humphrey and Robert Gallagher walked, then used their speed to cause problems for the Minutemen. Humphrey stole second, then after one out both he and Gallagher swiped second and third. There was a throwing error by catcher Michael Toth that allowed Humphrey to score the game’s first run. Gallagher scored on a fielding error by 3B Justin Blumenthal on a Trevor Crosby ground ball and Lowell was up 2-0.

The River Hawks added three more runs in the second. With the bases loaded, Fritz Genther (3-for-5, 3 RBI, 1 RS) cleared them with a double to the base of the wall in left. The 2-bagger was his 11th of the season and the River Hawks had a 5-0 lead. Dalton was done after 1.1 innings, and he gave up three hits, five earned runs, three walks, and two strikeouts. UMass Lowell added another run in the fifth vs Blake Bennett. Two guys who have had few at-bats came through with the six runs of the game. Connor Kelly (4-for-5, 2 RBI, run scored) singled to right, advanced on a balk, and then scored on a Spencer Aubin base hit up the middle. 6-0 Lowell after five.

Zack Fortuna came on for the River Hawks in the sixth and ran into some trouble. He hit the first batter he faced, Will MacLean, who then moved to second on a passed ball. Two outs later he scored on a fielding error by 2B Gallagher on a ball that got under his glove into right field by Carter Hanson. Hanson later scored on a Blumenthal base hit to left and it was now a 6-2 game. Not for long, the River Hawks got those two runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Kelly, with the bases loaded, ripped a double down the right field line that scored two off Dylan Tenwillinger, and UMass Lowell was back up by six at 8-2.

The top of the ninth inning was a mess for the River Hawks. Jacob Jette was brought on for an inning of work that he would soon like to forget. It started with Toth reaching on a fielding error by SS Roddy Hernandez. The next man up, Sam Hill was hit by a pitch. Harring would say later “You have to pick up guys when mistakes are made.” After leadoff hitter, Kevin Skagerlind popped out to SS, Maclean singled to right-center to drive in a run. Nolan Tichy then struck out looking and it looked like things were going to be ok. However, the next two hitters reached base on walks. Blumenthal (3-for-5,3 RBI) doubled to left and brought home two. UMass Amherst was now within one at 8-7. Michael Simes was then called on to end the game. Instead, he hit Toth to load the bases, then threw a wild pitch that brought home the game-tying run for UMass Amherst. It was now 8-8.

In the bottom of the ninth vs Charlie Devin, Humphrey, who said afterward “I was looking for a first-pitch heater” got it and drilled his sixth home run of the year off the scoreboard in left for the team’s first walk-off HR of the year. It made a winner of Michael Simes (2-2) and Devin took the loss and is now 0-2. Afterward, Humphrey called this win “A big lift.” He thinks this team is a “special group.” Harring, on the other hand, was not happy with how the back end of the game was handled by his freshman pitchers Jette and Simes. It is an area that will need to get better if the River Hawks are to do anything in the upcoming America East Baseball Tournament.

This weekend, the River Hawks will continue to play non-league baseball as they welcome Hofstra to LeLacheur Park for a weekend series. First pitch on Friday night is set for 7 PM. UMass Lowell will bring with them a four-game winning streak to the series.

Here is my postgame interview with coach Harring and Jacob Humphrey