BRONX, N.Y. – The UMass Lowell softball team split their second series of the season on Sunday in a pair of contests at Fordham University.
 
After a defensive noon contest resulted in a 2-1 victory for the Rams, the River Hawk offense awoke for a 7-3 decision in the encore.
 
The hosts would squeak out a quiet victory in the opening matchup, with just three total runs scored during the middle three frames. Fordham would begin the scoring in the third with a homer off the bat of Anne Marie Prentiss, and would tack on another run in the fourth after an RBI single from Julia Martine. The River Hawks would threaten the lead in the fifth, with Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) crossing home off a Sarah Ratcliffe (Pelham, N.H.) single.

The River Hawks split the pitching workload in the first game, with Chelsea Runyon (Scripps Ranch, Calif.) and Lovinia Copria (Deltona, Fla.) each throwing upwards of 55 pitches and four strikeouts a piece. 
 
The visitors would resume their usual offensive output in game two, unleashing a six-run third inning en route to a 7-3 victory. Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) would pace the River Hawks with three hits and a run scored, while Ratcliffe would net three more runs batted in.
 
After falling into another 2-1 deficit after the second inning, the River Hawks would take back the lead after a Ratcliffe two-run homerun to right. Mueller would continue the scoring for UMass Lowell driving in Maria Moccio (Feeding Hills, Mass.) with a two-out single to right field. Olivia Labbe (Rochester, Mass.) then netted her first two RBIs of the season with a two-run single. The scoring would be rounded off with Cashman's second single of the inning, driving in Mueller.
 
Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) stood tall in circle for the River Hawks, throwing a complete-game, 127 pitch effort. She also struck out a career-best 12 batters in the outing.
 
UMass Lowell will continue their New York tour when they venture to Hempstead, N.Y. for a four-game set at Hofstra, beginning Saturday, March 20.