MERION STATION, Pa. – An early home run barrage set the tone for the Saint Joseph's baseball team on Sunday afternoon as the Hawks cruised past UMass Lowell, 9-3, for a sweep of the weekend series between the two teams at Smithson Field.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (4-6) wasted no time on Sunday, as Brett Callahan and Conlan Wall led off the bottom of the first with singles; after a walk to Ryan Cesarini loaded the bases, Nate Thomas promptly unloaded them with a no-doubt-about-it grand slam into the Hawk bullpen beyond the right field fence.
 
• Wall was hit by a pitch with two down in the second to bring up Cesarini, who hit a bullet over the left field fence to make it a 6-0 game.
 
• UMass Lowell (2-12) scored a pair of unearned runs in the third, but the Hawks got one of them back on a leadoff home run by Weingartner.
 
• Thomas led off the fifth with a single and would score when Weingartner followed with a double to center; after advancing on a passed ball, Weingartner would then come in to score on a sacrifice fly by Justin Igoe to make it 9-2.
 
• The River Hawks would score once more, on an eighth-inning home run by Gerry Siracusa, but UML would get no closer on the day.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Mike Falco allowed a run on four hits in four innings of relief to earn his first victory of the season, while Nick DiRito was touched up for four runs on four hits in just a third of an inning to take the loss.  Domenic Picone got the start, tossing four innings and allowing a pair of unearned runs on two hits while striking out five.
 
• Thomas, Weingartner, and Luke Zimmerman enjoyed multi-hit games for the Hawks; the first two were joined by Wall and Cesarini in a quartet of Hawks to score twice on the day as well.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks head to Holly Springs, North Carolina, for a pair of games against Notre Dame starting on Tuesday.