LOWELL, Mass. – graduate student Zach Fortuna (Newburyport, Mass.) was outstanding once again on the mound late in the game as the UMass Lowell baseball team (19-22, 9-8 AE) rallied late to beat the UMBC Retrievers (18-19, 8-7 AE) 5-3 in Sunday’s series finale.
The River Hawks pick up a big conference series win behind a stellar showing from Fortuna and late-game heroics at the plate.
Fortuna struck out three in 2.0 innings to secure the victory while graduating student Miles Cota (Hampstead, NC) went a solid 6.0 innings on the mound with four strikeouts in the afternoon. Senior Kevin Zarnoch Jr. (Boston, Mass.) threw 1.0 scoreless inning and kept UMass Lowell alive late in the game.
Junior Brandon Fish (Londonderry, NH) had two hits and two RBIs while fellow junior Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) and senior Fritz Genther (Kingston, NY) added two hits each. Sophomore Carlos Martinez (Coamo, Puerto Rico) tallied two RBIs to go with one hit and one run.
Cota got off to a good start on the bump, removing the side in order in the first. The graduating student picked up his first two strikeouts in the second inning, but UMBC tallied two runs to take the lead. The Retrievers pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third while the River Hawks’ offense struggled to get going early, being held hitless through three frames.
UMass Lowell got their first hit of the afternoon in the fourth, but left runners stranded on the corners. Cota found his stride and threw a 1-2-3 fifth to keep the River Hawks within three runs. A 5-4-3 double play got UMass Lowell out of a jam in the sixth inning to bring the offense back out.
Kevin Zarnoch took over on the mound in the seventh inning and threw a 1-2-3 frame. UMass Lowell had runners on first and second with no outs in the seventh, but both were left stranded again as the River Hawks’ offense struggled to find a rhythm.
With one on and no outs in the eighth, Zach Fortuna entered the game for Zarnoch. The senior struck out one and graduated student Ryan Proto (Centerville, Mass.) caught a runner stealing second to keep UMass Lowell down by three heading to the bottom of the eighth.
Back-to-back hits from senior Trey Brown (Rochester, NY) and Genther put two runners on in the bottom of eighth for the River Hawks. After a pitching change, Alex Luccini singled to left to load the bases. Carlos Martinez drove in two runs with a single to center before a sacrifice fly from Proto tied the game at 3-3.
Martinez advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt before a walk from junior Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) put two runners on. Brandon Fish hit a two-out double to deep center to score two runs to make it 5-3 and give UMass Lowell its first lead of the afternoon.
Fortuna was lights out in the ninth, striking out two hitters to secure a big America East win for UMass Lowell and take the weekend series 2-1. Next up, the River Hawks visit Boston College on Tuesday, March 30.
