UMass Lowell River Hawks Fall To Wake Forest, 13-3

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The UMass Lowell baseball team (1-6, 0-0 AE) fell to the Wake Forest Deacons (10-0, 0-0 ACC) 13-3 on Friday afternoon. The River Hawks will play Central Michigan next on Saturday afternoon.

Graduate Ryan Towle (Westfield, Mass.) struck out five batters and allowed nine earned runs in 3.0 innings for the River Hawks. The graduate student struck out the first three batters he faced in the first inning.

The Deacons got the bats going early in the second inning, scoring three runs to take the lead. UMass Lowell struggled to find an offensive rhythm, being shut out for the first five innings of the game. Wake Forest took advantage and built an 11-0 lead after four. Junior Brian Gaughan (Walpole, Mass.) finished the inning in relief of Towle.

The River Hawks got on the board in the top of the sixth, as freshman Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) doubled to bring in junior Trey Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) and senior Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) to make it a 12-2 game. Sophomore Michael Quigley (Halifax, Mass.) took the mound in place of Gaughan.

UMass Lowell added a third run in the seventh when junior Cedric Rose (Pittsfield, Mass.) was walked with the bases loaded, bringing in freshman Jake Fitzgibbons (Franklin, Mass.) to cut the lead to 12-3.

The Deacons added one more run in the final innings to secure the 13-3 victory and remain undefeated on the season. Freshmen Hayden Duke (Mattapoisett, Mass.) and Brendan Holland (North Andover, Mass.) made their debuts for the River Hawks. Holland recorded his first strikeout of his career.

The River Hawks return to action on Saturday and Sunday to close the weekend against Central Michigan. Both games are scheduled for 12 p.m. afternoon at the David L. Couch Ballpark.

PITCHING

W: Rhett Lowder (3-0)

L: Towle, Ryan (1-1)