UMass Lowell River Hawks Fall to Northeastern 6-4

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BROOKLINE, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (19-32, 9-12 AE) rallied in the sixth inning but ultimately fell to the Northeastern Huskies (39-11, 18-9 CAA) in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday afternoon.

Redshirt freshman Spencer Aubin (Dover, N.H.) went 3-4 at the plate with a double and one run scored to lead the offense against the Huskies. Sophomore Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) got back on track, going 2-3 with a double and a walk on the afternoon. Sophomore Jacob Humphrey (Standish, Maine) tallied one hit and one RBI.

Senior Frankie Venezia (Lyndhurst, N.J.) got the start and went 3.0 innings with three runs allowed and three strikeouts. Freshman Jacob Jette (Franklin, Mass.) went 2.0 innings with one strikeout and one walk while graduate student Zach Rodgers (Parrish, Fla.) struck out two in 1.1 innings. Freshman Brian Foley (Milton, Mass.) fell to 0-2 on the season, throwing 0.2 innings with two earned runs and one strikeout.

“Frankie Venezia, Jacob Jette, and Zach Rodgers were fantastic on the mound,” said head coach Ken Harring. “Spencer Aubin continues to produce when he has been given opportunities. Alex Luccini had great at-bats and we hope that carries over to the weekend against Binghamton.”

The Huskies took an early lead in the first after the River Hawks struggled to get out of the inning. Northeastern scored two runs with two outs to extend their lead to 3-0 after one. UMass Lowell went down in order in the first and second inning but picked up its first hit of the game in the third. Senior Matt Tobin (Poland, N.Y.) and Alex Luccini had back-to-back hits to open the frame, but both were left stranded.

Jacob Jette took over in the fourth inning and threw a 1-2-3 frame to keep the deficit at three runs. The freshman allowed just one hit in a scoreless fifth to give the River Hawks a chance to get on the board. They would do just that in the top of the sixth with senior Frank Wayman (Horseheads, N.Y.) drawing a one-out walk to get a runner on base. A fielder’s choice and throwing error would bring the senior in to score to make it a 3-1 game.

Matt Tobin’s RBI groundout scored senior Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) and put the tying run on second. Alex Luccini registered another hit, a single through the left side moving sophomore Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) to third before Spencer Aubin singled up the middle to tie the game. The freshman stole second but was left stranded as the inning ended.

Northeastern would score twice in the bottom half of the inning to take a 5-3 lead. Brian Foley entered the game for the sixth and picked up one strikeout. The River Hawks were held off the board in the seventh while the Huskies tacked on another run to push the lead to 6-3.

Northeastern went down in order as Zach Rodgers struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth inning, sending the game to the final frame with UMass Lowell trailing by three. Spencer Aubin hit a leadoff double down the right field line to get a runner in scoring position early. Aubin came in to score on Humphrey’s two-out RBI single to make a two-run game. The River Hawks could not find the tying run and fell by a 6-4 final.

Next up, UMass Lowell will host Binghamton for a three-game series beginning on Thursday, May 18 at LeLacheur Park.