March 31, 2011
Box Score Game 1 | Box Score Game 2
Photo Gallery
Early and consistent offense lifted the Stonehill Skyhawks over UMass Lowell in Northeast-10 softball action on Thursday afternoon on River View Field. Stonehill earned a pair of wins from the doubleheader, first a 6-3 victory, followed by a 6-5 decision that saw a late River Hawk rally fall just short.
"We just have to continue to mature and get better with new situations," said Head Coach Sean Cotter. "I know we'll be better on Saturday. We'll come out and compete - we've just got to play better."
While Stonehill earned a steady 3-0 lead after scoring once in each of the first three innings, the River Hawk offense awoke in the third inning of the first game. Senior Heather Ross (Waltham, Mass.) helped bring home Meagan Guy (Berlin, Conn.) and Krista MacKenzie (Ipswich, Mass.) before crossing the plate herself to tie it at three apiece before the inning's end.
The Skyhawks came back in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs to regain the lead and built on the lead with a fifth-inning homerun from Kelsey Wilcox to put Stonehill up 6-3.
UMass Lowell loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, as MacKenzie was hit by a pitch and Ross reached second on a Stonehill miscue. The Skyhawks walked Elyssa Boris (Gardner, Mass.), but the River Hawks were unable to capitalize on the opportunity and Stonehill capped the game with a 6-3 final score.
P Boris started the game but split duties with Rachel Schafler (Floral Park, N.Y.). Boris picked up the loss, her sixth of the year after allowing six hits and five runs in 5.0 innings. Schafler came in for two frames mid-game, allowing one run on four hits. She struck out three.
Stonehill's Samantha Krantz earned her first win of the year, while Nicole Eisenmann earned the save after getting the Skyhawks out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.
In the second game of the afternoon, Stonehill picked up where it left off, starting the game with an explosive five-run first inning.
Ross answered with a solo homerun in the bottom of the frame, but that was all the offense the River Hawks could muster in the inning.
The squad rallied in the fifth, as Guy first hit a long homerun to bring home freshman 2B Ali Ferraro (Kingston, N.Y.). Three batters later, conference homerun leader Boris blasted her seventh of the year, a two-run bomb, to make it a 6-5 ballgame.
The River Hawks were unable to collect anymore runs, though, and dropped the second game of the afternoon.
With the loss, Boris fell to 10-7 on the year. She pitched 5.0 innings and allowed six runs on six hits. Schafler pitched two scoreless innings for the River Hawks, allowing just one hit through eight batters. Stonehill's Nicole Schneider picked up her second win of the year, while Linday McKillop earned her first save of the season.
"Rachel Schafler came in, did her job, making pitches," Cotter said. "She was a bright spot on a long, dreary day."
Boris finished the afternoon with three RBI, going 1-6, while Caelyn Ford (Dracut, Mass.) went 2-4, picking up a hit in both games and adding a walk on the afternoon. Guy finished the day 1-5 from the plate with two RBI and two runs scored, while Ross went 2-8, also picking up a pair of runs and RBI.
The River Hawks return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader against Saint Anselm beginning at noon. They will follow up with another pair of games against Merrimack at the same time on Sunday.
