Box Score (PDF): Game 1 | Game 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The UMass Lowell softball team (8-10) split a pair of decisions on day two of the Spartan Invitational, defeating Iona (0-9), 12-4, in six innings before facing a 5-0 setback against tournament host San Jose State (14-0).
 
"I thought we hit well the first game," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "I would have liked to see some better at-bats in the second game."
 
Junior Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) batted 4-for-4 in game one against Iona to lead the River Hawks to a season-high 14 hits. Sophomore Lovina Capria (Deltona, Fla.) recorded the win in the circle to improve to 5-5 so far.
 
The River Hawk offense went to work in its first at-bat of the day against Iona, jumping out to a 3-0 lead with the help of RBI from Cashman and sophomore Maria Moccio (Feeding Hills, Mass.). Capria held the Gaels to just one hit in each of their first two trips to the dish, allowing her team to pull away in the second, adding three runs on four more hits, including a triple from junior Melany Sheldon (Garbagnate, Milan, Italy) that brought in senior Sydney Barker (Upland, Calif.) and a single up the middle by Cashman that scored sophomore Olivia Labbe (Rochester, Mass.).
 
Iona chipped away at the difference with a RBI double in the top of the third, as well as a two-run single in the fourth, but Cashman answered for the River Hawks with her sixth home run of the year to extend the lead to 8-3.
 
The Gaels recorded their final run of the contest in the top of the fifth, and although UMass Lowell stranded two in the home half of that inning, the team rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth, sealing the 12-4 victory in walk-off fashion on a RBI single to right center by Labbe.
 
In game two of the day against San Jose State, the home team capitalized on a defensive miscue in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Moccio represented the River Hawks' first baserunner of the contest in the second, but a homer and a throwing error accounted for two more runs for the Spartans.
 
SJSU used a two-run base hit to right center in the bottom of the third to make the score 5-0. UMass Lowell then went three-up and three-down in its remaining at-bats en route to the decision.
 
The River Hawks will wrap up their West Coast trip tomorrow, Saturday, March 16 with games against Iona and Pacific.