HOUSTON, Texas – The UMass Lowell softball team (2-2) split a pair of decisions on day two of the Houston Invitational, falling to Northwestern State, 12-2, in six innings before bouncing back with an exciting, 7-4 win in extra innings against host Houston.
 
"The second game was an awesome performance," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "I could see that the team was not going to back down and was going to win."
 
With that victory in the nightcap, Henderson earned her 100th career win as a head coach.
 
Both senior Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) and junior Sarah Ratcliffe (Pelham, N.H.) totaled three hits on the day. Cashman added a team-best two RBI, while redshirt-senior Casey Harding (Cheshire, Conn.) scored three runs. Junior pitcher Lovina Capria (Deltona, Fla.) went the distance against the Cougars to earn the game two win in the circle.
 
The River Hawks came from behind the whole way against Houston, as the home team quickly jumped out to a 1-0 edge. Senior Christina Rizzi (Manorville, N.Y.) tied it at 1-1 in the top of the third with her second career home run, but the stalemate was short-lived because the Cougars pulled ahead, 3-1, in the home half of the inning.
 
UMass Lowell would continue to battle and eventually took its first lead of the night in the sixth inning when junior Sara Siteman (Hudson, N.H.) went yard, and Cashman and sophomore Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) each added RBI singles to make the score, 4-3.  
 
Houston forced a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh, but Capria pitched out of the jam to leave the bases loaded and send the game into extras. The River Hawks then sealed the win with three runs in the eighth.  
 
Although Cashman led off for the River Hawks with a single through the left side in the first game of the day against Northwestern State, it was the Demons who jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second on three hits. UMass Lowell made noise in the home half of the inning with a walk from Harding and a single from senior Emily Stevenson (West Jefferson, Ohio) to start the at-bat, but the team was unable to cut into the difference.
 
NSU extended the buffer to 7-0 in the third on a RBI triple to center before Cashman put the River Hawks on the board in the fifth with a homer to straight-away center. However, the Demons rallied for five runs with the help of two long balls to finish the game early, 12-1.
 
UMass Lowell closes out its weekend in Houston tomorrow, Sunday, February 9 against Valparaiso at 10 a.m.