May 3, 2011
Box Score
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Fifth-seeded UMass Lowell defeated eighth-seeded Southern New Hampshire 3-1 in the first round of the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Softball Tournament. Senior P Rachel Schafler (Floral Park, N.Y.) threw a three-hitter, earning her 13th win of the year. The win is UMass Lowell's 13th straight.
With the victory, UMass Lowell (34-18) advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, commencing on Friday at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. The squad will take on fourth-seeded New Haven. Southern New Hampshire finishes its season 19-26 overall.
Southern New Hampshire struck first on a solo home run by Melissa Vitagliano in the top of the second inning, going up 1-0 early on. The ball, hit to left field, was nearly caught on a valiant, over-the-fence effort by junior Caelyn Ford (Dracut, Mass.).
The River Hawks answered back with three consecutive singles to start the bottom of the second, loading the bases for CF Ashley Daniels (Medford, Mass.). She walked, scoring sophomore RF Katie Mazure (Burlington, Mass.), tying the game at one apiece. The Penmen defense held strong through the rest of inning, stranding three River Hawk runners.
The first two River Hawk batters of the fifth reached, allowing a foul fly by junior DP Elyssa Boris (Gardner, Mass.) to bring home classmate Meagan Guy (Berlin, Conn.) and put UMass Lowell on top 2-1. The RBI proved to be the game-winner.
The squad tacked on an insurance run in the sixth, though, as freshman 3B Ali Ferraro (Kingston, N.Y.) brought home Ford to vie the River Hawks an insurance run and make it a 3-1 ballgame.
The Penmen looked as if they might stage a comeback, hitting a long ball to the fence in centerfield before it was stabbed down by Daniels to keep the runner at first. The River Hawks' solid defense went on to turn a double play to close the inning and in turn, the game.
Schafler went the entire seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits, striking out five and not giving up a single walk. Southern New Hampshire's Kelsey Griffin picked up the loss, throwing the complete game and allowing three runs on nine hits.
More information, including game time, ticket information, etc. regarding Friday's game against the Chargers of the University of New Haven will be posted on www.GoRiverHawks.com as it becomes available.
