Evan Menzel hit a two-run double as part of a three run fourth inning on Sunday afternoon, as the Maine baseball team held on to beat UMass-Lowell 3-2 in the rubber game of a three game America East series at Mahaney Diamond in Orono.
The Riverhawks jumped on top for the only time when Carlos Martinez hit a solo homerun to right in the top of the second inning. Brody Rasmussen started the Black Bears rally in the fourth with a one out double. With two outs, Drew Reynolds tied it 1-1 with a single to right and Payton Whitehead followed with another single. Manzel then put his team up for good with a two-run double. Brandon Fish got UMass-Lowell back within a run with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, but the Maine pitching staff shut it down from there retiring 9 of the final 11 batters.
Reynolds and Menzel each had two hits for Maine, while Gianni Gambardella (2-2) picked up the pitching win allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Sebastian Holt picked up his sixth save of the season by firing the final 2.0 innings. Martinez had two hits for UMass-Lowell, while Kevin Zarnoch Jr. (0-5) suffered the loss on the mound giving up three runs on six hits in 6.0 innings. The Riverhawks are now 12-18 and 4-5 in America East. The Black Bears improve to 10-20 and 5-4 in league play, and will host Merrimack on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.
