LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (5-14, 0-4 AE) fell 4-0 to the Binghamton Bearcats (4-13, 1-3 AE) on Friday night. Game two of the weekend series is set for 1:00 p.m. at LeLacheur Park on Saturday, March 26.
 
"It's always nice to be home, of course. He [Thomas Babalis] is a great pitcher and I knew coming in he'd throw good pitches," said head coach Ken Harring. "I thought LJ [Keevan] pitched his way out of a few jams. As a freshman, in his home debut only giving up one run, I thought he was good for us today."
 
Junior Cedric Rose (Pittsfield, Mass.) and sophomore Jimmy Sullivan (East Hampton, Conn.) registered the only two hits for the River Hawks. Freshman LJ Keevan (Holden, Mass.) picked up four strikeouts and allowed just one earned run in 5.2 innings.
 
The game started in a stalemate, with both teams going scoreless through the first three innings. Keevan struck out two in the opening three innings and the defensive work was sharp to start. The River Hawks defense got out of the fourth with a 4-6-3 double play, sparking some life into the team.
 
However, UMass Lowell struggled on the offensive end, while the Bearcats started to find a rhythm and put together a string of hits in the fifth inning. Binghamton broke the deadlock in the sixth inning on an RBI single. The visitors added another run in the seventh for a 2-0 lead.
 
The River Hawks' offensive struggles continued, as the hosts could not find a way to get on the board. Binghamton scored two more runs in the ninth to secure a 4-0 victory. The Bearcats finished the game with 13 hits, while UMass Lowell only recorded two.
 
"We just have to be patient. We'll be fine, we've got a good team. We faced a really good pitcher today and we'll be ready to go tomorrow."