Hartford Hawks baseball opened last weekend playing UMass Lowell in a three-game series. Game one was a dominate pitching performance for the team, as they shutout the River Hawks and only allowed five hits. The first three innings were scoreless for the Hawks but put up their first run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Drew DeMartino. Hartford added to the lead in the sixth starting with an RBI single from freshman Donnie Cahoon. An impressive double steal from the Hawks added to their lead to 3-0. Hartford would go on to add two more runs with a final score of 5-0 Hartford. Dombkowski had his dominate performance with a career-high 11 strikeouts and only allowing three hits over seven innings. Game two was a different story, the Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and that was all she wrote for offense for Hartford. The River Hawks responded in the fourth tying the game and going ahead 3-2 which held until the end of the game. Hartford threatened to tie the game in the top of the sixth but failed to plate the run. Game three, the Hawks were holding onto a 2-1 lead going into the fifth inning but broke the game open putting up five runs pushing the lead to 7-1. UMass Lowell mounted an attempted comeback starting with two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to make it a two-run game (7-5). The River Hawks had runners on first and third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but freshman Will Nowak shut the door striking out the last batter preserving the Hawks lead. The Hawks are now 8-13 on the season and move to play Sacred Heart on Tuesday. First pitch is at 3 p.m.