SACRAMENTO, Calif. — UMass Lowell broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the seventh and put the game out of reach with four in the eighth for a 7-2 victory over Sacramento State on Tuesday night at John Smith Field.
 
The Hornets (5-11) collected nine hits from eight players, including a pair from Sam Harry, but were hurt by a pair of inning-ending double plays late in the game as well as uncharacteristically sloppy defense which led to three unearned runs.
 
The River Hawks (4-7) never trailed in the game, scoring a run in the top of the second and adding a second in the fourth. The first run was set up by a pair of walks to start the inning and the run came home on a single by Joseph DeLanzo. In the fourth, a throwing error allowed the leadoff hitter to reach and he scored on a groundout three batters later.
 
Sacramento State cut the lead in half with a run of its own in the fourth. Jace Jeremiah extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single to start the inning and he moved to third following a line drive double off the left field wall by Jakob Poturnak. Orlando Cobarrubias drove in Jeremiah with a sac fly.
 
Ryan Ellis started the sixth inning with a 14-pitch at bat which eventually led to a walk after he fouled off 10 pitches. Two hits loaded the bases and Ellis scored on a sac fly from Jacob Cortez to tie the game. Another walk kept the bases juiced before ULM went to its bullpen and Nolan Geisler induced a 6-4-3 double play to stop the threat.
 
UMass Lowell retook the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-out single up the middle by Brayden Cali. The big inning came in the eighth where the team sent 10 hitters to the plate and were gifted four walks and a pair of errors by the Hornets.
 
Geisler picked up the win to improve to 1-1 on the season. He went 1.2 innings and did not allow hit. Konner Entz suffered a hard-luck loss to fall to 0-1. Entz was one of nine Sacramento State pitchers in the game which combined to walk six and strikeout five.
 
The Hornets will have a quick turnaround as the team will welcome Pacific on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. to start a four-game series. The first two games (Wednesday and Friday) will be in Sacramento while the final two on the weekend will take place in Stockton.