Tuesday, April 28 vs. Holy Cross (4 p.m.)
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Wednesday, April 29 at Boston University (4 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell softball team will close out its 2015 campaign with two final games this week.
 
The River Hawks host Holy Cross on Tuesday, April 28, in a 4 p.m. tilt before traveling to Boston University on Wednesday, April 29, for their 4 p.m. season finale.
 
RIVER HAWK RECAP
UMass Lowell owns a 16-29 overall record in 2015, including a 5-11 mark in America East play. The team went 1-6 last week, earning a 7-3 victory in the second game of a twin bill against Albany on April 25. The River Hawks faced a pair of setbacks at Stony Brook and against Central Connecticut State before finishing conference play and celebrating Senior Day against Albany over the weekend.
 
LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 45 games, senior Ally Greene (Tewksbury, Mass.) is first on the squad with a .294 batting average, 126 at-bats, 37 hits, 10 doubles and 17 stolen bases. Classmate Ariana Darcy (Kingston, N.Y.) adds to the offensive effort, hitting .243 with a team-leading 25 runs scored and 21 walks. Freshman Vanessa Cooper (Pleasant Gap, Pa.) is first on the squad with 22 RBI. In the circle, junior Marielle Handley (Durham, Conn.) owns an 8-11 record with 68 strikeouts. Sophomore Erica Armenti (Shrewsbury, Mass.) boasts a team-low 3.40 ERA.
 
SCOUTING HOLY CROSS
The Crusaders are 8-16 overall and 6-9 in the Patriot League, following a 1-2 weekend against Bucknell. Taylor Moss is batting .405 with 32 hits and seven RBI. Emily Jarvis leads the team with two home runs and 13 RBI. Katy Watson is first on the pitching staff with a 3.32 ERA and four complete games. Gennifer Durham has five wins and 33 strikeouts in 66.1 innings.
 
SCOUTING BOSTON UNIVERSITY
The Terriers (16-24, 7-8 Patriot League) are riding a seven-game winning streak, and have won eight of their last nine games. Moriah Connolly is batting .361 with 43 hits and 32 runs scored. Emily Felbaum leads the team with five home runs and her 26 RBI are tied for the team lead with Gabi Martinez. In the circle, Makinna Akers has seven wins with a 3.67 ERA. She also leads the staff with 49 strikeouts.
 
HEAD COACH DANIELLE HENDERSON ON THE WEEK
"These next two games will be against two good teams, and it is a good time to approach this as if we are in a postseason matchup."
 
THE LAST TIME
UMass Lowell swept Holy Cross in a four-game, home-and-home series in 2014. The River Hawks and the Terriers squared off twice last season, as BU earned 9-1 and 4-3 decisions.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE
The River Hawks are currently sixth in the America East standings. The squad leads the conference in team doubles (61), at-bats (1174), plate appearances (1383) and sacrifice flies (12). Individually, sophomore Tori Alcorn (Lowell, Mass.) is first in the league with 15 sac bunts and 156 plate appearances.
 
PERFORMING UNDER PRESSURE
Vanessa Cooper has become the River Hawks' most reliable bat when the pressure is on. She boasts a .367 average with runners on base, in addition to an even better .415 average with runners in scoring position. Ariana Darcy adds a team-high .542 average when successfully advancing runners.
 
HOT STREAKS
Sophomore Alisha Welch (Langley, British Columbia) put together an eight-game hit streak from April 3-14, tying the squad's longest of the year as Ariana Darcy also connected in eight straight games from Feb. 15-March 14. Junior Alyssa Zinkiewicz (Massapequa, N.Y.) owns the team's longest on-base streak this season, putting together an 11-game stretch from February 14-March 14.
 
SPEED DEMONS
Ally Greene successfully stole a base in game two against Albany on April 25 to total 17 for the year and tie the school's all-time record for career stolen bases (77). She needs just one more to take sole possession of the top spot from Kristine Botto (77, 1998-2001). Classmate Ariana Darcy is right on Greene's heels with 73 career stolen bases, good for third all-time.
 
WALKING INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Ariana Darcy drew three walks against Boston University on April 7 to compile 75 for her career and take over the top stop in the record books, surpassing Kim O'Connell's record (72) set from 1985-88. She has continued to add to her record-setting mark for a grand total of 81.
 
MORE RECORDS TO WATCH
Ariana Darcy is nearing the top of several other career record lists for the River Hawks. She is third overall in triples (16), tied for third in home runs (20), fourth in runs scored (129), sixth in total bases (294), and ninth in RBI (97). Marielle Handley is currently fifth in program history with 280 career strikeouts, as well.
 
HONORS AND AWARDS
UMass Lowell softball swept the first week of America East awards on February 10, as Alyssa Zinkiewicz was named Player of the Week, Erica Armenti earned Pitcher of the Week honors and Vanessa Cooper was tabbed Rookie of the Week. In week three, Ariana Darcy took Player of the Week accolades and Cooper earned her second Rookie of the Week nod. Zinkiewicz (Feb. 10), Ally Greene (Feb. 24) and Marielle Handley (April 21) have also been named River Hawk of the Week this season.