Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ALBANY, N.Y. – Sophomore Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.) batted .500 (4-8), as the UMass Lowell softball team (9-14-1, 0-2 AE) fell to UAlbany (9-8, 2-0 AE) in Sunday's doubleheader at Albany Field to open up America East Conference play. 

The River Hawks first made a seventh-inning comeback in game one, rallying for four runs to force extras before falling, 7-6. The visitors then faced an 8-4 setback in game two.

Tow also added one run and one RBI on the day. Junior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) and graduate student Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) each logged a pair of hits in the twin bill, as well, while Fisher and graduate student Mya Case (Syracuse, N.Y.) added two RBI apiece.

Freshman Giana LaCedra (Tyngsboro, Mass.) threw all 8.1 innings in game one, allowing four earned runs and 15 hits, while striking out eight. She moved to 5-4 on the season. Sophomore Jen Slanovec (Bethlehem, Pa.) fanned two batters in 5.1 innings of work in game two. 

After scoring just one run through the first five innings, the bats began to heat up, and the River Hawks tallied five runs in the sixth and seventh innings combined, including a four-run seventh to tie the game. Fisher and freshman Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) each had two-run singles in that seventh to erase the Great Danes' buffer.

Both pitchers battled throughout extra innings, not allowing a run until UAlbany's Sara Anderson scored the game-winner after leading off the ninth with a single. A River Hawk miscue allowed Anderson to score, ending game one at 7-6 in favor of the Great Danes. 

Unlike game one, the River Hawks came out firing early in game two, as Case blasted a two-run homer to center field in the top of the first inning, giving her side the immediate lead. UAlbany replied with a run of their own in the bottom half. 

The scoring continued for the River Hawks in the second, as Mueller smacked an RBI double to left field, scoring Tow, who led off the inning with a single. Now with a 3-1 lead, Slanovec blanked the Great Danes' lineup to end the frame. 

UAlbany got themselves back into the game in the third, scoring three runs to take the 4-3 advantage. However, after a scoreless fourth, a bases-loaded walk from senior Darlene Gutierrez (Colton, Calif.) in the fifth inning tied the game for the River Hawks. 

The Great Danes then regained the lead and extended it, scoring one run in the fifth and three in the sixth. Anderson picked up her second RBI single of the game, while Jordan Nastos hit a two-run double and Caitlyn Mitros had an RBI single to help claim the 8-4 victory. 

Next up, the River Hawks will host Merrimack for a doubleheader on Wednesday, March 29, starting at 1 p.m.