FORT MYERS, Fla. – Senior
Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) batted .429 with a team-best three hits and two RBI, as the UMass Lowell softball team (3-4) split a pair of hard-fought decisions on Friday at the FGCU Spring Break Invitational.
The River Hawks battled from behind in both outings, completing a thrilling, 2-1 comeback against Big Ten opponent Michigan State to start the day. That performance marked the team's first ever victory against a Big Ten opponent at the Division I level. The final game of the afternoon also ended by a 2-1 score, however this time around, it was an extra-innings heartbreaker against Harvard.
"We played well today," said Head Coach
Danielle Henderson. "The last game was a heartbreaker. We have two games again tomorrow and hopefully we will have some better run production."
Cashman logged what would be the game-winning hit in the first game. Senior
Melany Sheldon (Garbagnate, Milan, Italy), who batted 2-for-3 in game two, was the only other River Hawk to log multiple hits on the day. Junior
Lovina Capria (Deltona, Fla.) struck out five in the win against Michigan State, while sophomore
Kaylie See (Chino, Calif.) turned in a 0.84 ERA against Harvard.
Although Michigan State logged three hits to open the scoring in the second inning of game one, the River Hawks battled to keep the Spartans off the board for the remainder of the outing. Junior
Sara Siteman (Hudson, N.H.) tripled in the home half of that inning and classmate
Maria Moccio (Feeding Hills, Mass.) singled to right in the fourth, but MSU was able to hold onto the one-run edge all the way until the bottom of the fifth.
Redshirt-senior
Casey Harding (Cheshire, Conn.) got the rally started with a walk before back-to-back singles from sophomore
Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) and junior
Olivia Labbe (Rochester, Mass.) loaded the bases for Cashman, who ripped a shot at the opposing shortstop to plate two of her teammates and put the River Hawks on top, 2-1. Capria then closed it out in the circle, allowing just one base runner in the final two innings to seal the comeback win.
Harvard quickly jumped out to a 1-0 edge in game two, scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first. Sheldon and freshman
Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) each logged a hit in the fifth inning, while Cashman and senior
Marianne Sparacia (Spring Hill, Fla.) added two more in the sixth, but the Crimson held onto its lead until the seventh.
UMass Lowell rallied back in that seventh inning, as Harding drove a ball down the left field line to knot the game at 1-1 and force extras. However, the team left a runner stranded on third in each of the next two at-bats before Mackenzie Tyler stole third and scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth to seal the 2-1 decision.
The River Hawks are back in action with two more games at the tournament tomorrow, squaring off against Fordham at 1:30 p.m. and host Florida Gulf Coast at 6 p.m.
