Box Score
ORONO, Maine – Senior Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) hit a three-run, game-tying home run in the seventh inning, as the UMass Lowell softball team (15-21-1, 5-6 AE) came from behind for a 5-4 victory and series win at Maine (10-27, 3-7 AE) on Sunday at UMaine Softball Complex.

Tulley finished the day 1-for-1 with two walks, a run scored and three RBI. Freshman Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) and graduate student Tori Mueller also found success from the plate, each collecting a hit and RBI. Fitzgerald added a run scored as well.  

Graduate transfer Emily Reid (Dighton, Mass.) picked up the win from the circle against her former team, tossing 1.2 innings and allowing just one hit and no runs, while also scoring the game-winning run after entering the game as a pinch runner. Senior Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) got the start, and became the UMass Lowell all-time Division I leader in career strikeouts, after collecting three on the day. She now boasts a whopping 320 career strikeouts, breaking the record of 317 set by Kaysee Talcik from 2016-2019.

Throughout the first six innings of the ball game, Maine had full control, as Black Bears pitcher Alysen Rieth held the River Hawks to no hits or runs through six innings of play. At the plate, the hosts scored two runs in the second inning on a two-run triple from Krista Francia and one in the third on an Anna Margetis RBI single to take the 3-0 lead. They later added to that lead in the sixth when Francia picked up another RBI on a single up the middle. 

The River Hawks' lineup eventually caught fire when they needed it most, scoring five runs on six hits in the seventh inning alone to take the lead. It all started with a leadoff single to left field by graduate student Mya Case (Syracuse, N.Y.). After junior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) reached on a fielder's choice in the next at-bat, freshman Shannon Howes (Palgrave, Ontario) entered as a pinch runner, scoring on a Fitzgerald RBI single and moving sophomore Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.) to third base after drawing a walk. This is when Tulley stepped into the box and got ahold of one for the three-run homer, tying the game at four. 

The next two batters, freshman Jordan Chamberlain (Wolcott, Conn.) and senior Brenna Davenport (Merrimack, N.H.), reached base on a Black Bear miscue and an infield single, respectively. Reid pinch ran for Chamberlain and would eventually score the game-winner on a graduate student Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) RBI single. Reid then came out to the circle to shut down the Maine lineup and help give the River Hawks the 5-4 comeback victory.

The team will now have a week to prepare for another three-game America East Conference series at Binghamton on Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23.