Baseball Takes The Sunday Sweep

Image+Courtesy+of+Hartford+Hawks.com

Image Courtesy of Hartford Hawks.com

T.J. Hummel, Sports Editor

The Hartford Baseball team earned a Sunday sweep this past weekend against UMass Lowell. The team won both games, jumping their record to 14-12 in the America East, whereas UMass Lowell fell to 11-15 in the conference.

Both teams took the field and game one was underway. Holding a one-run lead heading into the 3rd inning, the River Hawks struck paydirt and pushed their lead to 4-0. Hartford seems to always come up big when facing adversity, as they struck back with a run of their own, courtesy of a Donnie Cohoon RBI double. The Hawks were able to cut the deficit to three, but UMass Lowell scored three runs in the fourth to push their advantage out to 7-1.

Trailing by six runs entering the bottom of the sixth, Hartford cut the lead to 7-4, all thanks to sophomore Derek Tenney, who launched a three-run bomb over the fence. Still down 7-5, Senior Drew DeMartino belted an RBI double to the fence to trim the deficit down to just one run. Later in the inning, the Hawks tied to contest on a wild pitch, which allowed Aiden Duda to score from third. With runners in scoring position, Tremayne Cobb Jr. put the icing on the cake, ripping a single to left field and giving the Hawks a 9-7 lead.

Senior Peter Myers entered from the bullpen, as he looked to lock down the River Hawks in their final ups. Myers allowed one run, but he held on for his first save on the season as the Hawks took game one 9-8.

Both teams took a short break before they took the field for the game two nightcap. The Hawks carried their momentum into game two, using solo shots from Bryce Ramsay and John Thrasher to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Leading 3-0 in the fourth inning, Robert Carmody lined a single into the outfield, scoring Devin Kellogg from first to push their lead to 4-0. UMass Lowell scored a run of their own in the fifth, but the Hawks responded in the bottom half. Kellogg hit a sacrifice fly to score Cobb Jr., which gave the Hawks a 5-1 lead.

The River Hawks battled back in the later innings, scoring a run in the seventh and two in the eighth to trim Hartford’s lead to 5-4. The Hawks wouldn’t let a comeback stop them as Carmody ripped a two-run double in the eighth to push their lead out to 7-4, eventually holding on for an 11-4 victory.

The Hawks return to action on Saturday, May 8, when they open up a four-game series against UAlbany with a doubleheader. The doubleheader is set for a noon start time.