Box Score
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MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The UMass Lowell softball team (2-2) defeated Army (1-4) of the Patriot League, 13-8, in its final game of the Charleston Challenge on Sunday afternoon.
 
"The team played well the entire weekend," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "Coming out of this first tournament at 2-2 is a great start to the season. There is a lot to build off of for us to have a successful season. Our pitchers kept us in the games, and our defense was strong every game. Plus, our hitters performed well and we scored a lot of runs in our games."
 
Seven different River Hawks logged multiple hits in the outing, going 2-for-4 (.500) at the plate. Junior Alyssa Zinkiewicz (Massapequa, N.Y.) and freshman Vanessa Cooper (Pleasant Gap, Pa.) registered three RBI apiece, while junior Emilia Davies (Parker, Colo.) and senior Abby Jamieson (Billerica, Mass.) added two. It was a staff day in the circle for UMass Lowell, and the starter, sophomore Erica Armenti (Shrewsbury, Mass.), picked up the win with one run allowed and one strikeout.
 
Davies recorded the first hit of the day in the bottom of the first with a two-out single through the left side, although she did not advance. The game would remain scoreless through the second inning when each team logged one base runner, including sophomore Alisha Welch (Langley, British Columbia) who reached on an error for the River Hawks.
 
In the top of the third, Army used a RBI two-bagger to left field to take a 1-0 advantage. UMass Lowell quickly responded in its next trip to the plate, rallying for seven runs. The River Hawks loaded the bases with a walk from sophomore Mikalya Powlowsky (Hudson, N.H.) and base hits by junior Brianna Martin (Methuen, Mass.) and sophomore Tori Alcorn (Lowell, Mass.), setting up Zinkiewicz, who sent a double to right center to score the two lead runners. Cooper followed with a three-run home run to clear the bases before senior Ariana Darcy (Kingston, N.Y.) and Jamieson connected on back-to-back doubles. The squad would add one more run in the inning, unearned on an error by the Black Knight's second baseman, to pull ahead, 7-1.
 
Army chipped away at the lead in its next two at-bats thanks to a pair of RBI doubles and a home run, cutting the difference to 7-5. However, the Black Knights would not come any closer, as senior Melissa King (Stamford, Conn.) stepped into the box in the home half of the inning as a pinch hitter and singled through the right side to score Welch. Later in the at-bat, Alcorn, Davies and Zinkiewicz knocked in runs to make the score 12-5.
 
The sides combined for three runs in the sixth and Army tallied the final one of the day in the top of the seventh, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit as UMass Lowell secured the 13-8 victory.
 
UMass Lowell returns to action next weekend, February 13-15, with five games at the Dot Richardson Invitational in Clermont, Fla.