Box Score (PDF): Game 1 | Game 2

LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Vanessa Cooper (Pleasant Gap, Pa.) went 3-for-4 (.750) with three RBI and two sacrifice flies to help lead the UMass Lowell softball team (19-22, 12-2 AE) to a pair of shutouts against America East opponent Stony Brook (19-19, 7-6 AE) on Saturday.
 
The River Hawks took game one against the Seawolves, 4-0, before earning a 6-0 decision in game two. With the wins, the River Hawks extend their current win streak to a season-long seven games, in addition to setting a new program record with six straight America East wins. In addition, the squad matched a Division I program best for conference victories in a single season with 12.  
 
"We came out great," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "In the circle, our pitchers didn't let up any runs. I thought our defense did a great job. We started to make things happen in the first game and I thought a couple people's bats were on fire in the second game."
 
Freshman Maria Moccio (Feeding Hills, Mass.) registered a team-high four hits with three RBI of her own. Sophomore Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) chipped in with three hits and two RBI, while junior Sydney Barker (Upland, Calif.) scored a team-best three runs. Freshman Lovina Capria (Deltona, Fla.) and junior Kaysee Talcik (Shelton, Conn.) combined for nine strikeouts in the shutouts.  
 
The Seawolves logged the first two hits of game one with a base hit in each of the first two innings, although it was the River Hawks who broke open the scoring thanks to a solo shot over the fence in right center by freshman Sara Siteman (Hudson, N.H.).
 
The third inning saw just one hit from SBU before the home squad extended its margin to 3-0 in the fourth. In that at-bat, Moccio stepped in with runners on the corners and roped a liner to right to plate senior Colleen Frank (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) and bring up Cooper, who scored freshman Olivia Labbe (Rochester, Mass.) on a sacrifice fly.
 
The River Hawks made noise once again in the fifth, putting runners on the corners with a double from Cashman and a walk from Siteman, although the three-run buffer would remain until the sixth when Cooper lifted her second sacrifice fly of the day to help the squad seal the 4-0 decision.
 
In game two, it was déjà vu for the River Hawks, who once again logged their first run on a solo homer, this time off the bat of Cashman. Talcik held the Seawolves without a base runner through the first two innings, allowing her squad to pull away, 3-0, in the bottom of the second, as Barker went yard and Cooper followed with a RBI double.
 
UMass Lowell then rallied for three more runs in the third to take a 6-0 advantage. Cashman tagged her second dinger of the contest in that trip to the dish, while Moccio knocked in two on a base hit to right.
 
Stony Brook recorded its first hit in the fourth, but the River Hawks continued to hold the visitors off the scoreboard. Both sides combined for three runners left on in the remaining innings, as UMass Lowell took the 6-0 shutout.
 
The River Hawks and Seawolves wrap up their series tomorrow, Sunday, April 29 with a 12 p.m. tilt. It will be Senior Day for the River Hawks, celebrating five graduating team members.