STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Graduate student Christina Rizzi (Manorville, N.Y.) went 3-for-6 at the dish to lead the offense for the UMass Lowell softball team (9-12, 5-5 AE) in a pair of setbacks at America East opponent Stony Brook (23-9, 9-1 AE) on Wednesday.
 
Despite scoring first in game one, the River Hawks fell, 2-1, against the Seawolves before the home team came from behind for a 3-2, walk-off win in game two.
 
"These were two really hard-fought games today," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "I thought both teams played well, but the results just didn't fall our way."

Two of Rizzi's hits came in the second game of the twin bill. Senior Sarah Ratcliffe (Pelham, N.H.) was the only other River Hawk to log multiple hits on the day with one in each game. Graduate student Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass.) and junior Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) each added one hit and one RBI, as well.
 
Senior Lovina Capria (Deltona, Fla.) went the distance in game one, totaling five strikeouts in the decision, while sophomore Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) was in the circle for game two with four strikeouts.
 
Cashman got the River Hawks off to a good start, leading off the afternoon with a solo homer to left center. And although Capria held the Seawolves without a hit in their first two trips to the plate, the home team took a 2-1 advantage in the bottom of the third thanks to a long ball from Julianna Sanzone and a RBI single down the left field line by Melissa Rahrich.
 
SBU threatened to add to their lead in both the fourth and fifth, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position in back-to-back at-bats. Ratcliffe then put herself on board with a single to left in the top of the sixth, and even though Capria pitched her squad out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning, the River Hawks were unable to scratch across another run in the outing.
 
The defensive stalemate continued into game two, as the teams combined for seven runners left on base through three scoreless innings. However, UMass Lowell broke the game open in the fourth when freshman Abby Packard (Horseheads, N.Y.) extended the at-bat with a two-out single, advanced to third on a base hit by sophomore Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) and eventually scored on a slap through the left side by Mueller. Tulley would score later in the inning on a Stony Brook miscue to extend the lead to 2-0.
 
White forced the Seawolves to go three-up and three-down in the home half of the fourth, but Jourdin Hering cut the difference in half in the fifth with a RBI two-bagger. SBU was then able to plate the tying run in the seventh on a Kyra Mcfarland single up the middle before walking off with the 3-2 decision on a shot down the left field line by Lindsey Osmer.
 
The River Hawks are back on the road this weekend when they visit Binghamton for a four-game conference series on Saturday-Sunday, May 1-2.