PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The UMass Lowell softball team (8-11-1) dropped the final game of this weekend's tournament against host Rutgers (22-10), 9-1, in six innings on Sunday afternoon.

"It might not have looked like it with the score, but we really competed today," said Head Coach Jen Starek. "Without the wind, that's a 3-1 game."
 
Graduate student Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) logged the lone hit for the River Hawks in the outing. Freshman pitcher Giana LaCedra (Tyngsboro, Mass.) went the first 4.2 innings in the circle before graduate student Emily Reid (Dighton, Mass.) came out of the bullpen to finish the contest.
 
The Scarlet Knights used a two-run home run by Katie Wingert in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. LaCedra held the home team to just one hit in the second, but Rutgers would stretch the difference to three in the third on a sacrifice fly to deep center by Morgan Smith.
 
Tulley led off the fourth with the River Hawks' only hit of the day, a solo homer down the left field line, to put her team on the board. However, Rutgers plated two more on three hits in the home half of the inning to make it 5-1.
 
A three-run homer in the fifth by the Scarlet Knights' Taylor Lane and a fielder's choice RBI by Wingert in the sixth were enough the secure the outcome in favor of the home team in six innings.
 
The River Hawks are now set to host their home opener on Wednesday, March 22 when Massachusetts visits for an in-state rivalry game at 2 p.m.