Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
RUSTON, La. – The UMass Lowell softball team dropped a pair of games on Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Tech Invitational in Ruston, La. They fell to Louisiana Tech, 10-0, in five innings before coming up short to Houston Christian by a score of 8-5. 

Graduate student Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) led the offense on the day, finishing 3-for-6 with three singles, a run scored and an RBI. Sophomore Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.) also found some success from the batter's box, going 2-for-6 throughout the two games.

The game saw three River Hawk pitchers, and it was freshman Giana LaCedra (Tyngsboro, Mass.) that did the most damage from the circle, allowing two hits and two earned runs in three innings of work along with four strikeouts. 

The Lady Techsters' bats were hot out of the gate, as they scored nine runs in just the first two innings without allowing a River Hawk hit. Tow was the first to reach base in the top of the third inning, singling to the pitcher and starting what was the River Hawks' best scoring opportunity of the game. Senior Brenna Davenport (Merrimack, N.H.) followed Tow's single up with a walk before Mueller was able to move the runners to second and third with a single, but Louisiana Tech pitcher Lau Menzina was able to force a fly out to end the inning.

Alyssa Martin entered the game in the fourth in place of Menzina and pitched two scoreless innings for the Lady Techsters, while they tacked on another run before the game ended after five innings with a score of 10-0.

Game two had a similar start for the River Hawks, as Houston Christian was able to strike first and make it 3-0 going into the bottom of the third inning. In the bottom half, Mueller once again led it off with a single, helping set up a three-run, game-tying inning for the River Hawks. After another single from senior Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.), junior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) was able to rip a single up the middle to drive in Mueller. A two-RBI single from freshman freshman Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) allowed Tulley and Fisher to score and tie the game up.

However, the Huskies were quick to respond, adding four more runs in the fourth on two singles and a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3, before the River Hawks had a retaliation of their own, tallying two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Mueller was able to reach on a Houston Christian error, allowing Davenport to score after drawing another walk. Fisher knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field later in the inning, cutting the Huskies' lead to just two. 

Houston Christian added another insurance run in the top of the seventh before shutting down the River Hawks lineup to secure the 8-5 victory.

Senior Ryley White entered the circle in the fourth inning for the River Hawks, tossing 3.2 innings and allowing just two hits and one earned run while striking out seven batters.   

The Louisiana Tech Invitational will continue tomorrow, Sunday, March 5, and the River Hawks will once again take on both Houston Christian and Louisiana Tech at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. respectively.