Box Score
Box Score (PDF)

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Juniors Brianna Martin (Methuen, Mass.) and Emilia Davies (Parker, Colo.) recorded two RBI apiece, as the UMass Lowell softball team earned a 6-2 victory against Bethune-Cookman University (0-2) of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in its season opener on Friday evening at the Charleston Challenge. Due to significant delays, the River Hawks' second game of the evening, originally scheduled for 8 p.m. against the tournament host College of Charleston, has been postponed.
 
"This was a total team win tonight," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "I'm proud of how well they played from the first inning until the last. They played hard and competed every inning."
 
Martin and Davies both went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Martin added two walks and Davies scored a pair of runs. Senior Alyssa Zinkiewicz (Massapequa, N.Y.) helped pace the team with three hits (.750), as well.
 
When play finally got under way after 10 p.m., Martin and Cooper each earned a walk in the top of the first, but both were left stranded. However, the River Hawks would get on the board the very next inning thanks to a RBI triple to deep right center by Davies. The team then extended its lead during the same at-bat, as Martin knocked in a pair of runs with a two-bagger to left, giving UMass Lowell a 3-0 edge.
 
Junior pitcher Marielle Handley (Durham, Conn.), who went the distance in the circle with three strikeouts, made quick work of the Wildcats in their next two trips to the dish. In the top of the fourth, sophomore Tori Alcorn (Lowell, Mass.) connected for a one-out single before senior Ariana Darcy (Kingston, N.Y.) doubled to left center, scoring Alcorn, and Zinkiewicz added a RBI single to make the score 5-0.
 
BCU broke the silence in the home half of the fourth, using a pair of hits and a sacrifice fly to plate its first run of the contest. The Wildcats chipped away at the difference with one more run in the bottom of the sixth, but UMass Lowell answered with a solo home run from Davies in the seventh to help secure the 6-2 victory.
 
UMass Lowell returns to action tomorrow with two more games at Patriots Point Athletics Complex. The River Hawks are slated to square off against Marshall University at 11 a.m. before taking on UNC Greensboro at 3:30 p.m.