LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell softball team's (15-21-1, 5-6 AE) weekend series with Binghamton (21-13, 7-4 AE) has been moved up one day, and will now be played on Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22, as both teams are looking for some crucial conference victories. 

Friday, April 21 
vs. Binghamton (3:00 p.m. EST) Live Stats

Saturday, April 22
vs. Binghamton (Doubleheader, 11:00 a.m. EST) Live Stats

Team History
Binghamton – All-time record: 15-10 | Last meeting: May 13, 2022 (UML, 3-0)
 
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the River Hawks took on Maine for a three-game America East series in Orono. They earned the series victory, winning game two, 5-0, and game three, 5-4, after dropping the series opener in a Black Bear walk-off.   

The River Hawks bounced back tremendously from the heartbreaking game one loss, shutting out Maine in game two, scoring two runs in the first and fourth innings, and extending the lead in the sixth with a run. Ryley White shut down the Black Bears' lineup with a complete-game and allowing just four hits and no runs with one strikeout. Junior Ellie Frederick (Sunapee, N.H.), graduate student Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.), sophomore Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.) and freshman Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) all finished 2-for-3, with Frederick, Mueller and Tow adding an RBI as well. 

Game three was thrilling, as the River Hawks came back from a 4-0 deficit in the seventh inning to pick up the 5-4 victory. The team had zero hits through the first six innings of the game, but their bats came alive in their final opportunity. Fitzgerald had an RBI single to get things started, but it was senior Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) who turned the game around and hit a three-run blast to tie the game at four in the seventh inning. Mueller would follow that up with the RBI single that gave the River Hawks the lead. Graduate transfer Emily Reid (Dighton, Mass.) earned the win in the circle against her former team, after entering in the sixth. She threw 1.2 innings with just one hit allowed. She also scored the game-winning run as a pinch runner in the top half of the seventh.     

Record BreaKer
With her three strikeouts in the game three victory, senior Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) now owns the UMass Lowell Division I record for career strikeouts with 320. She went into the game tied with alum Kaysee Talcik (2016-2019) for the record (317), but broke it with her first-inning strikeout. White has time to extend that record even further with more than two weeks left in the season. 
 
Conference Comparison
After the ninth week of the 2023 season, multiple River Hawks still hold top spots in the America East statistical categories. Graduate student Mya Case (Syracuse, N.Y.) sits in a tie with teammate Frederick for the conference-lead in home runs (6), while Tulley has hit the second-most (5). Junior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) and Tulley rank tied for second in RBI (27), while Mueller has the second-most runs scored (25). Senior Brenna Davenport (Merrimack, N.H.) is tied for the walks lead (17), while Case and Fisher hold the lead in sacrifice bunts (5) and sacrifice flies (5), respectively. Defensively, Fisher also leads all catchers in the conference with 13 runners caught stealing. This ranks eighth in the nation as well.    

In the circle, White sits near the top of almost every statistical category. She boasts the conference's best ERA (1.74), while leading the America East in opposing batting average (.190), runs allowed (18) and home runs allowed (1). She also ranks second in earned runs allowed (16) and third in walks allowed (16). Giana LaCedra (Tyngsboro, Mass.), the freshman, has the fourth-most innings pitched (88.2) in the conference, with the third-most wins (8). She is also maintaining a top-five ERA (2.68).      

Scouting the Bearcats
Binghamton finished the 2022 season in fifth place in the America East, putting up a 7-8 conference record (22-23 overall) and falling to the River Hawks in the conference tournament. They have turned it around in 2023 thus far, earning a 7-4 record through their first 11 conference games to put them in second place in the America East going into this weekend. Before the season, the Bearcats were ranked fourth in the 2023 America East Softball Preseason Poll, but did earn one first-place vote. They are coming off a doubleheader split with Syracuse.  

The Bearcats have returned four players that earned 2022 America East All-Conference honors in graduate student Alli Richmond, sophomore Sarah Rende, graduate student Sophia Pappas and sophomore Laney Harbaugh. Richmond was the lone bearcat on the All-Conference First Team, finishing last season with team lead in RBI (27), total bases (79), slugging percentage (.545), while sitting tied for the lead in hits (44) and home runs (6). Both Rende and Pappas were selected for the All-Conference Second Team for their 2022 season. Rende batted .275, ranking first on the team in runs scored (27), OPS (.894) and tied with Richmond for the home run lead (6). Pappas pitched and hit for the Bearcats, going .217 with 25 hits, eight doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI while tossing 54 innings from the circle. She finished with a 4-1 record and four saves, earning the team's best ERA (2.67). Harbaugh was named to the Americas East All-Rookie team after an extremely successful debut season. She led the team in batting average (.308), walks (21), on-base percentage (.398) and stolen bases (19). She also tied for the team lead in hits (44) in her rookie campaign. She is off to a hot start again this season, batting .311 with 33 hits through 33 games.