LOWELL, MASS. – The Saint Anselm baseball team travelled to Lowell, Mass., this afternoon to take on the University of Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks.  For the second day in a row, the Hawks put up a good fight but lost to the River Hawks by one run, this time in a 4-3 final.  The win lifts the River Hawks to 18-12 (7-6 NE-10), while the Hawks fall to 5-18 (3-9 NE-10).

Shortstop Mike Garczynski (Fort Myers, Fla.) started the game off right for the Hawks with a leadoff double to left field.  Steven Panza (Watertown, Mass.) then moved him to third with a single to left-center, and Garczysnki scored the first run of the game on an error by starting pitcher Dan White.  Matt Stone (West Roxbury, Mass.) then got the Hawks' third consecutive hit with a single to center, and Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) made it 2-0, sending Panza home on a sacrifice fly.

John Healy (Cranston, R.I.) pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, but the River Hawks' bats came alive in the bottom of the second.  J.T. Leary started things off with a one-out walk.  Jared Notergiacomo then smashed a two-run homer over the wall in left field to make it a tie game.  Mark Sanborn kept the inning going with a single to shortstop.  David Smith moved him over to second with a ground out to third, and Luke Wallace gave the River Hawks the lead with an RBI single up the middle.  Wallace then stole second to get into scoring position, and Jordan Silva sent him across the plate with another single up the middle, making it 4-2 in the bottom of the second.

The Hawks struck back in the top of the third, as Steven Panza led off with a single through the right side.  Matt Stone got hit by a pitch, and then Sucharewicz loaded the bases with another single through the right side.  Robert Kelly (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) drove in Panza with a sacrifice fly, but before the Hawks' could score any more runs, TJ Murphy (Reading, Mass.) ended the inning by grounding into a double play.

Neither team even got another player to third base over the next four innings, thus the Hawks still trailed by one heading into the top of the eighth.  Kelly led off the inning with a single to right field.  Murphy flew out to right, but James Garrigan (Plymouth, Mass.) made it second and third with one out on a double to left.  Daniel DeCoste (Chelmsford, Mass.) grounded to short for the second out of the inning, but pinch-hitter Rett Ostafin (Avon, Conn.) then walked to load the bases.  However, the Hawks were unable to capitalize on their scoring opportunity, as Mike Garczynski struck out to end the inning, stranding three.

The Hawks went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth, so the River Hawks came away with another one-run victory by a final score of 4-3.

John Healy, who entered today's game with a team-leading 1.37 ERA, hit a rough spot in the second inning for his weakest outing of the season.  Healy allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings while striking out three.  Kyle Lavin (Shelton, Conn.) then extended his scoreless streak to 10 innings (three appearances), allowing just two hits and no runs in the final two innings.  Lavin surpassed Healy for the best ERA on the team, as he now averages 1.65 earned runs.

Dan White allowed all three runs, two earned, for the River Hawks on six hits in three innings.  Ted Haley then pitched five scoreless innings of relief, allowing three hits and striking out eight, and Dallas Nunes pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

The Hawks continue their six-game road trip on Saturday, April 10th, when they take on the Pace University Setters in a doubleheader beginning at noon.