UML set for America East tourney
River Hawks to battle Bryant University in first round
LOWELL >> The Umass Lowell baseball team will play in the opening round of the America East Championship on Wednesday.
The fifth-seeded River Hawks (19-33, 11-13 AE) will battle No. 4 Bryant (26-23, 12-12 AE) at the Binghamton Sports Complex in Vestal, N.Y., at 1 p.m.
The River Hawks went 3-0 against the Bulldogs this season, sweeping the series in Lowell, April 7-9. Umass Lowell outscored Bryant 42-16 in the three games and has won five straight contests in the series dating back to the 2019 season. Bryant’s last victory against Umass Lowell came on May 17, 2016.
The River Hawks went 2-2 in the final week of the regular season, falling to Northeastern before taking two of three from Binghamton to close out conference play. The River Hawks dropped game one but bounced back with back-to-back wins heading into postseason play.
Bryant has plenty of power, as the Bulldogs rank second in home runs (70) in America East play.
UML graduate student Robert Gallagher (Mullica Hill, N.J.) was named the America East All-conference first team third baseman. Gallagher hit .278 with a slugging percentage of .370. He tallied 45 runs scored, 45 hits, seven doubles, one triple and two home runs. The veteran also drew 27 walks and went 16-for-21 on stolen base attempts. This is Gallagher’s second all-conference award after earning all-rookie honors his freshman year.
Graduate student Joshua Becker (Burlington) was one of four starting pitchers to earn America East All-conference second team honors. Senior Ryan Proto (Centerville), junior Fritz Genther (Kingston) and sophomore Jacob Humphrey (Standish, Maine) were also named to the
second team.
Becker has a team-best 4.11 ERA and a 4-3 record with 14 appearances. He’s thrown one complete game and has one save on the
year. His 43 strikeouts are second on the team.
Proto hit .270 with 29 runs and 44 hits, including 14 doubles, with 23 RBI. Genther leads the team in hitting with a .322 average with 39 runs and 55 hits to go with a team-best 43 RBI. He has a team-high eight home runs with 13 doubles
and one triple. He has a slugging percentage of .550 with nine stolen bases.
Humphrey has had a great sophomore season, hitting .319 with a slugging percentage of .510. He leads the River Hawks with 52 runs, 65 hits, 104 total bases with league-high five triples. Humphrey has also
hit seven home runs and tallied eight doubles.
A trio of River Hawks earned their first all-conference honors as freshmen Nick Dirito (Plymouth), Jacob Jette (Franklin) and Michael Simes (Rutland) were named to the America East Allrookie Team.
Due to their efforts in the classroom, graduate students Gerry Siracusa (Kinnelon, N.J.) and Becker earned All-academic Team honors. Becker is studying engineering management with a 3.73 grade point average and Siracusa is studying business administration with a 3.96 GPA.