ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose came back from 1-0 and 4-2 deficits to take the nightcap 6-5 after suffering a tough 3-2 opening setback to visiting Northeast-10 Conference rival UMass Lowell this afternoon at Bellizzi Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex. The River Hawks (20-3/7-1 NE-10), off to the best start in program history, entered the day riding a seven-game win streak.

The Golden Knights (7-11/1-5 NE-10) benefitted from outstanding pitching out of the bullpen by a pair of freshmen, while junior shortstop Jesse Burba brought across the winning run by grounding out on a safety squeeze in the sixth that allowed another freshman in left fielder Brian Maynard to score.

Rookie left-hander Tom Buckley and freshman right-hander Ryan Harper allowed just one hit and fanned seven collectively throughout 4.0 innings of work out the bullpen. Buckley picked up the win to go to 2-0 on the year, while Harper chalked up the second save of his young career.

Seven different Saint Rose players had one hit apiece, including senior first baseman Grant Smith who had an RBI single in the first.

Junior first baseman Mark Sanborn and senior second baseman Connor Burnham both had two hits to lead UMass Lowell. Burnham also had an RBI triple and then scored on a wild pitch in the fourth that briefly afforded the River Hawks a 4-2 lead. Saint Rose then scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half of the frame to make it a 4-4 ballgame.

In the opener, UMass Lowell junior left-hander Jack Leathersich was dialed in although Burba blasted a triple to the left-center field gap in the sixth that brought across senior second baseman Ryan Burke who walked one batter earlier. Saint Rose then added another on an error to tie the game 2-2. However, freshman right fielder Dylan Flynn Knocked in the winning run with an infield base hit in the eighth.

Leathersich allowed just Burba's hit and fanned 12 throughout 8.0 innings of work to run his record to 4-1. He furthermore retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced. Meanwhile, Flynn wound up with a pair of hits while junior center fielder Matt Jacobs had a two-run single in the fifth to put the River Hawks up 2-0.

Senior right-hander Doug Dulin suffered a hard-luck loss for the Golden Knights. Dulin scattered seven hits and fanned five throughout 8.0 innings of work to keep Saint Rose within striking distance throughout.

Looking ahead, the Golden Knights return home tomorrow for a 12:00 pm conference double-dip versus Saint Anselm. Meanwhile, UMass Lowell will host the Hawks on Tuesday at 3:30 pm.

Box Score - Game 1; Box Score - Game 2