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

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Juniors Madison Alcorn (Lowell, Mass.) and Vanessa Cooper (Pleasant Gap, Pa.) each went 3-for-6 at the plate, as the UMass Lowell softball team (17-18, 8-4 AE) split a doubleheader at America East Conference foe Stony Brook (11-23, 6-6 AE) on Saturday.
 
The River Hawks faced an 8-2 setback in game one before earning a 10-4 victory in game two. The win marked UMass Lowell's first ever Division I win against the Seawolves.
 
"In the first game, we had good at-bats, but just hit right at people," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "Their three- and four-hole hitters were on that game. In the second game, Lauren (Ramirez) kept their hitters off balance and we were patient at the plate."
 
Freshman Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) logged a team-best three runs and three RBI on the day, all of which came in the nightcap. Senior Lauren Ramirez (Dracut, Mass.) went the distance in the circle in game two to pick up the win, totaling six strikeouts.
 
The Seawolves jumped out to a quick, 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one thanks to back-to-back home runs from Melissa Rahrich and Irene Rivera. Sophomore Sydney Barker (Upland, Calif.) led off the second with a base hit for the River Hawks and Cooper was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, but both were stranded there to keep the visitors off the board.
 
Stony Brook then added two more long balls in the third, including a two-run shot off the bat of Rahrich, to create a six-run buffer. UMass Lowell was able to plate its first runs of the day in the fourth when M. Alcorn started the at-bat with a sharply hit two-bagger to left and scored on a fielding miscue, bringing up redshirt-freshman Casey Harding (Cheshire, Conn.), who followed with a RBI double of her own.
 
However, SBU got both runs back in the bottom of the fifth on their fifth home run of the contest and Rivera's second, creating the 8-2 margin that the squad would hold onto in the remaining two innings.
 
The River Hawks went to work early at the dish in game two, loading the bases in the top of the first before Cashman drew a RBI walk and Barker put a ball in play to score senior Alisha Welch (Langley, British, Columbia).
 
The home team went three-up and three-down in the second, allowing UMass Lowell to extend its margin to 5-0 in the third. Cashman came all the way around from second on a single by M. Alcorn, while sophomore Marisa Carrasco (Peoria, Ariz.) and Welch each picked up a RBI in the inning, as well.
 
Although Stony Brook cut the difference to three in the bottom of the third on three hits and a defensive error, the River Hawks pulled ahead, 6-2, in the top of the fourth with a RBI from Harding. The Seawolves plated two more in their next chance, but the visitors answered once again, using a two-run homer from Cashman to take an 8-4 advantage in the fifth.
 
Ramirez struck out the SBU side in order in the sixth, giving the River Hawks the chance to add two more to their lead in the seventh to seal the 10-4 decision.
 
The River Hawks and Seawolves will square off in the rubber match tomorrow, Sunday, April 23, beginning at 12 p.m.