Box  Score 1 (PDF) | Box Score 2 (PDF)

ALBANY, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell softball team (5-26, 0-6 AE) dropped a pair of decisions at UAlbany (19-8, 5-0 AE) on Saturday to wrap up the weekend America East series.
 
The River Hawks fell, 5-1, in game one before the Great Danes' Celeste Verdoliva put together a perfect game to hand the visitors an 8-0 setback in six innings in the series finale.

"We have faced two of the top teams in the conference and we have been in most of the games competing," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "We have some tough games coming up, but we just have to keep playing hard."
 
Junior Tori Alcorn (Lowell, Mass.) paced UMass Lowell with two hits on the day, including a home run. Freshman Kaysee Talcik (Shelton, Conn.) threw game one with four strikeouts, while junior Lauren Ramirez (Dracut, Mass.) went the distance in the circle in game two.
 
In the first inning of game one, the teams combined for three runners left on. Junior Alyssa Hasbrouck (Middletown, N.Y.) led off the second with a walk for UMass Lowell before freshman Brianna West (Fairfield, Conn.) drew a free pass of her own and T. Alcorn sent a liner to center to load the bases, but all three would be left there to keep the game scoreless.
 
The Great Danes broke the game open in the bottom of the second, though, on a two-run long ball from Donna Conrad. Kelly Conrad then added a solo homer in the third to make the score 3-0 in favor of the home squad. The River Hawks went three-up and three-down in the fourth, but retaliated with a home run of their own off the bat of T. Alcorn in the top of the fifth, cutting the difference to two.
 
Talcik used a pair of strikeouts to retire the Great Danes in order in their next at-bat. The River Hawks threatened in the sixth when sophomore Vanessa Cooper (Pleasant Gap, Pa.) walked and classmate Samantha McQueen (Ewing, N.Y.) singled up the middle to get on for Hasbrouck, who executed a sacrifice bunt to move to the runners into scoring position. Sophomore Madison Alcorn (Lowell, Mass.) was then hit by a pitch, loading the bases for the visitors once again, although the team was unable to scratch across a run.
 
Despite going into a short rain delay with the bases loaded in the home half of the sixth, UAlbany plated two runs on three hits and a wild pitch before holding UMass Lowell scoreless in the seventh to seal the 5-1 outcome.  
 
The Great Danes' Verdoliva retired six straight River Hawks to open game two, allowing her team to take an early, 3-0 edge in the second inning. The home team extended its margin to 4-0 in the fourth, as McKenzie Bump scored on a wild pitch.
 
Verdoliva continued to keep UMass Lowell off the base paths in the later innings. In the bottom of the sixth, UAlbany loaded the bases for MacKenzie Cleary, who drove a grand slam over the fence in left to end the game early and secure the 8-0 win.
 
The River Hawks still own a 9-6 advantage in the all-time series against UAlbany. UMass Lowell returns home to host Boston College in a non-conference, mid-week tilt on Wednesday, April 6 at 4 p.m.