Box Score (PDF): Game 1 | Game 2

BOSTON, Mass. – The UMass Lowell softball team (20-14) dropped a pair of one-run decisions in a mid-week, non-conference matchup at Boston University (25-17) on Wednesday.
 
The River Hawks first faced a 4-3 setback in game one before falling, 3-2, in a nine-inning heartbreaker in the nightcap. The decisions snap a 12-game win streak for UMass Lowell that spanned 32 days.
 
"We played hard and they were good games, I just thought we needed to adjust a little bit sooner," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "I hope that we can take this as a learning experience into this weekend to be able to lay off some pitches and not swing as hard at them."
 
Five different River Hawks logged a pair of hits in the twin bill, including junior Marianne Sparacia (Spring Hill, Fla.), who batted .333 and redshirt-junior Casey Harding (Cheshire, Conn.), who drove in three runs. Junior Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) earned a pair of walks to set a new all-time program record for single-season free passes (32)
 
Sophomore Olivia Labbe (Rochester, Mass.) led off game one with a single to shallow center, but the Terriers were able to plate the first two runs of the contest off four hits in the bottom of the first. The lead was short-lived, though, as the River Hawks erased the difference in the third with the help of a hard hit ball by sophomore Maria Moccio (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and a sacrifice fly by Harding.
 
The River Hawks took the lead of the day in the top of the fifth, as Harding knocked in Cashman. However, BU responded with a pair of RBI singles in the home half of the inning to pull back in front, 4-3. UMass Lowell then battled in the late innings, bringing the winning run to the plate in the seventh, but the Terriers would hold on to seal the one-run decision.
 
In game two, the River Hawks did not waste any time jumping out to a 1-0 lead when Cashman started things off with a single up the middle and scored on a double to the fence in right center by senior Sydney Barker (Upland, Calif.). In UMass Lowell's very next at-bat, Harding extended the team's lead with a solo shot over the fence in right center.
 
Labbe showed great range in the home half of the second and sophomore pitcher Lovina Capria (Deltona, Fla.) retired the Terriers in order in the third to keep the River Hawks' two-run buffer intact. BU would get on the board in the fourth, though, cutting the difference in half on a homer by Emily Morrow.
 
A great snag by sophomore Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) in the fifth kept the tying run off the board until the bottom of the seventh when BU evened the board at 2-2 and forced extras. Capria pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, but the home team would walk it off in the ninth on a double to right by Nicole Amodio.
 
The Terriers now own a 15-3 advantage in the all-time series against UMass Lowell. Next up, the River Hawks will host UMBC in a three-game series this weekend, Friday-Saturday, April 19-20.