April 1, 2010
Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2)
Behind solid pitching, consistent offense and nearly flawless fielding, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (9-11, 2-0 NE-10) picked up a pair of wins in their first two Northeast-10 Conference games of the year, at Saint Anselm (7-9, 0-2 NE-10) on Thursday afternoon.
The squad earned a 9-2 win in the early game and won by a score of 10-2 (6 innings) in the later tilt. Freshman P Alyssa Bryan (Stoneham, MA) earned the victory, her fifth of the year, in complete-game performance. She struck out five, walked six and allowed just two runs on seven hits.
UMass Lowell had a 3-0 lead through the third, but the Hawks brought it back within a run by tallying two in the fourth. The River Hawks cushioned their lead with a two-run fifth, however and broke the game open with four runs in the sixth to seal the victory.
Senior Katelyn Hebert (Lowell, MA) went 2-4 with three runs in the first game and eventually finished the day 3-7. Both Meagan Guy (Berlin, CT) and Brianna Mahoney (Billerica, MA) tallied three hits apiece in the first game, while Guy knocked in a team-best two RBI.
The squad converted nine runs on 14 hits, making just one error in the game, while they held the Hawks to two runs on nine hits. Megan Lemire (2-3) got the loss for Saint Anselm, while Bryan improves to 5-6 on the year with the seven-inning effort.
In the second game of the afternoon, sophomore Elyssa Boris (Gardner, MA) earned her third victory of the year with another complete-game performance. Two was the magic number for the pitcher, who struck out a pair, walked two batters and allowed just two runs on five hits. With the victory, she improves to 3-2 on the year, while Shannon Dalton earned the loss and now stands at 3-2 on the year.
Helping not only from the mound, Boris kickstarted UMass Lowell’s offense with a homerun to left field in the second, before the River Hawks’ offense steadily increased through the game. Entering the sixth, the squad was up 4-0 before cracking the game wide open with a six-run sixth inning.
Hebert had a two-run double in the inning, while Mahoney had a pair of RBI on a single to center. Mahoney finished the game with four RBI after going 3-4 in the contest.
The Hawks tried to battle back but were only able to rally for two runs in the bottom of the sixth, as UMass Lowell completed the sweep of Saint Anselm.
The River Hawks will continue through their NE-10 Conference schedule with a doubleheader at Merrimack on Saturday, beginning at noon with the second game starting at 2:00 p.m.
