Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
BALTIMORE, Md. – On day two of the 2023 America East Tournament, the UMass Lowell softball team (20-27-1, 8-12 AE) dropped a game to UMBC (23-15, 14-4 AE), 7-0, on Thursday morning, before falling just short to Maine (13-37, 2-14 AE), 1-0, in an elimination game, ending their season.  

In the first game of the day, the River Hawks tallied three total hits, one each from junior Ellie Frederick (Sunapee, N.H.), graduate student Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) and freshman Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.). Freshman Giana LaCedra tossed the first three innings of the ball game, allowing four hits and two earned runs with one strikeout.     

The Retrievers were the first on the board, plating two runs in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk and fielder's choice. After a scoreless second inning, the River Hawks threatened in the third, with a Frederick double, followed by a Mueller infield single, but the River Hawks could not plate a run. In the bottom half, Madison Wilson hit a solo homer for UMBC to make it 3-0. 

After sophomore Jen Slanovec (Bethlehem, Pa.) entered the circle for the River Hawks in the fourth with a runner on first, she got her first batter to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. However, the Retrievers collected two singles and a walk to add one more run to the scoreboard, before graduate student Kaylie See (Chino, Calif.) took over the pitching duties. UMBC then drew three walks, including two with the bases loaded to score two more runs, making it a six-run lead.

The fifth inning saw 1-2-3 frames from each team, before the Retrievers tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth with a Wilson RBI single. The score remained the same through the seventh, and the game concluded with a 7-0 final score. 

With the loss, the River Hawks moved on to play Maine in the loser's bracket later on in the day.

In the elimination game, neither team crossed the plate until the Black Bears put one on the board in the top of the fourth inning on a Krista Francia RBI single. Senior Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) pitched well in the loss, striking out four and tossing a complete game, allowing just four hits with no earned runs. 

The squad just could not get anything going offensively, totaling four hits, including two singles from Mueller, a double from senior Cayla Tulley and a junior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) seventh-inning single. Maine pitcher Caitlyn Fallon struck out four on her way to the win, eliminating the River Hawks and ending their season with a 21-29-1 overall record.