HOUSTON, Texas – Junior Maria Moccio (Feeding Hills, Mass.) batted .571 with seven RBI to lead the UMass Lowell softball team to a 1-1 record on opening day for the 2020 season at the Houston Invitational on Friday.
 
The River Hawks defeated Fordham in the season opener, 9-8, before being edged, 4-3, by tournament host Houston.
 
"I thought it was a good day," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "A few mistakes, but I think it was from the adrenaline of opening day. We bounced back and battled, and now we will try to carry that into tomorrow."
 
Moccio totaled four hits on the day, including a pair of home runs for a 1.429 slugging percentage. Senior Marianne Sparacia (Spring Hill, Fla.) hit .600 (3-5) on the day, while classmate Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) totaled three RBI on two long balls to add to the offense. Junior pitcher Lovina Capria (Deltona, Fla.) picked up the win against Fordham with five strikeouts in the complete game performance, while freshman Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) fanned six in her collegiate debut against Houston.
 
In game one against the Rams, the River Hawks trailed 4-0 early on, but quickly made it a one-run game in the top of the third with a three-run home run from Moccio. Fordham stretched the difference again in the fourth, this time to 6-3, but Cashman sent a ball over the fence in right to put her team back within one.
 
In the sixth, UMass Lowell erased the difference, making the score 6-6 before Moccio jacked another three-run bomb to give her squad the first lead of the outing. The Rams threatened with one run in the seventh, but Capria forced a groundout and strikeout to earn the 9-8 win.
 
Game two against host Houston also proved to be a close one, although this time the River Hawks jumped on top, 1-0, in the top of the first on a solo home run by Cashman in the lead-off spot. White held the Cougars without a hit until the third and stranded runners in scoring position twice in the first four innings of her first career appearance.
 
Houston was able to knot the game at 1-1 on back-to-back bunt singles in the fifth, but White hurled the inning-ending strikeout to leave a pair of go-ahead runs on base. However, the home team would plate three more runs on five hits in the sixth.
 
The River Hawks chipped away at the difference in their final trip to the dish, first cutting the lead in half on a RBI single to right from Moccio. Sophomore Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) then scored on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game, but the team could not scratch across another, sealing the 4-3 decision for Houston.
 
UMass Lowell returns to action with two more games at the Houston Invitational, squaring off against Northwestern State at 10 a.m. before a rematch with the Cougars at 5:30 p.m.