Box Score (PDF): Game 1 | Game 2

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The No. 1 ranked UMass Lowell softball team (27-20) battled valiantly, earning a spot in the Friday's loser's bracket final, but came up just short of making its second straight appearance in the America East Championship title game.
 
The River Hawks battled from behind in their first game on Friday, defeating No. 6 Binghamton (19-29), 5-4, in a thrilling, extra-innings walkoff, but were then unable to get past No. 3 Stony Brook, who earned a 2-1 decision to eliminate the league's regular-season champion.
 
"We set out with our goal to have fun and be ourselves," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "I felt like we were pressing a lot because we are a much better hitting team than we saw here. Once we were able to relax and break through, we started to have better at-bats. (Kaysee) Talcik gave us everything she had, so I'm so proud of what she did in the circle. I was proud of all our seniors. We fought right until the very end, but this is what happens when you get to tournament time. A couple bad breaks here and there, and not scoring runs, it's a heartbreaker."   
 
Senior Brianna West (Fairfield, Conn.) led the team at the dish with three hits (.500) and two runs on the day. Junior Marianne Sparacia (Spring Hill, Fla.), who also batted .500, logged a team-best three RBI, while classmate Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) recorded five walks. Senior Kaysee Talcik (Shelton, Conn.) turned in all 15 innings of work for the team in the circle, registering a season-best eight strikeouts against Binghamton.
 
Talcik dealt back-to-back strikeouts in her first inning of work, but Binghamton used a two-out, RBI double to jump out to a 1-0 edge. The lead was short-lived, though, as Cashman tallied the River Hawks' first hit of the tournament with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning.
 
Sara Herskowitz went yard to regain the upper hand for the Bearcats, 3-1, in the top of the third. Cashman, who was intentionally walked, accounted for the River Hawks' lone baserunner through their next two at-bats. The home team did make noise by loading the bases in the fifth, but the Bearcats would get out of the jam.
 
Talcik retired a string of seven straight Binghamton batters between the fourth and sixth innings to keep her team within striking distance. The River Hawks' bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth, rallying for three runs on three hits, including a two-run double down the right field line by Sparacia to give her squad their first lead, 4-3.
 
In the seventh, the Bearcats plated the tying run on a homer by pinch hitter Sophia Pappas to force extras, but the top seed would end it in the eighth, loading the bases for Moccio, who ripped a hard-hit ball at the opposing third baseman and knocked in the winning run.
 
Stony Brook pulled in front, 2-0, early in the loser's bracket final with a homer in the second and a RBI single in the third. The River Hawks cut the difference in half in the fifth on a deep sacrifice fly by Sparacia that knocked in sophomore Meghan Chojnowski (Templeton, Mass.). The team threatened for more, but a good play by the SBU right fielder extinguished the opportunity.
 
UMass Lowell's defense stranded two Seawolves in the top of the seventh, giving the team the chance to come back once again. Despite putting the winning run on base in their final at-bat, the River Hawks fell short in the 2-1 outcome.
 
The program's historic 2019 season now comes to a close with a record 28-20 overall mark.