April 7, 2010

Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2)

Behind power hitting and aggressive baserunning, the UMass Lowell River Hawks (12-14, 5-3 Northeast-10) captured a pair of wins over Southern New Hampshire (7-11, 4-4 NE-10) in the home opening doubleheader at River View Field on Wednesday afternoon. The squad won the first game 11-7 and defeated the Penmen 8-2 in the second game of the afternoon.

The first game of the day, a slugfest, was highlighted by eight homeruns between the two teams, while the River Hawks’ three in the game tied the program record. Two of UMass Lowell’s jacks came from freshman Alyssa Bryan (Stoneham, MA), who continued her powerful hitting of late. The rookie tallied five RBI in the game after going 2-4 and scoring two runs in the contest.

Classmate Krista MacKenzie (Ipswich, MA) went 1-4 with two RBI in the game, while sophomore Meagan Guy (Berlin, CT) went 2-3 in the first game, scoring twice and knocking in one RBI. Also contributing to the homerun count for the River Hawks was sophomore Elyssa Boris (Gardner, MA), who notched her fourth of the year.

Bryan started the game for the River Hawks, allowing seven runs on seven hits, while Marissa Fiorentino (Tewksbury, MA) relieved her and picked up her second win of the year after pitching two shutout innings. The sophomore allowed just two hits by the Penmen and struck out a pair.

The Penmen finished the game with three errors, 10 hits and seven runs, while UMass Lowell’s 13-hit game was highlighted by six runs in the fourth. Kelsey Griffin got the loss for the Penmen and fell to 5-6 on the year after allowing four runs on five hits in three innings of work.

Despite letting up two runs in the first inning of the second game, Boris went on to retire 17 of 19 batters after the first frame, including 14 consecutive to finish the contest. Offensively, she also tallied her second homer of the afternoon and fifth of the season, cushioning the River Hawks’ lead in the fifth to give them the 6-2 advantage.

The squad scored in every inning but the third, finishing the game with eight runs on seven hits. They were able to capitalize on three Southern New Hampshire miscues in the game. The Penmen scored two runs in the game, tallying four hits. Griffin picked up her seventh loss of the year, as well.

Freshman Brianna Mahoney (Billerica, MA) notched a pair of RBI after going 2-4 in the game, while senior Katelyn Hebert (Lowell, MA) went 1-2 with two RBI, as well.

The River Hawks will pack up for a pair of doubleheaders in Connecticut this weekend, first taking on New Haven at 12/2:00 p.m. on Saturday before heading to Southern Connecticut for a pair at 1/3:00 p.m.