LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell softball team is back in action this weekend at the Blue & Gold Classic hosted by Charleston Southern on Friday-Sunday, February 16-18. The River Hawks will play five games at the tournament, square off against the host Buccaneers twice and St. John's three times.
 
Friday, February 16
vs. St. John's (12:30 p.m.)
at Charleston Southern (5:00 p.m.)
 
Saturday, February 17
vs. St. John's (12:30 p.m.)
at Charleston Southern (3:00 p.m.)
 
Sunday, February 18
vs. St. John's (10:00 a.m.)
 
Series History
St. John's University – All-time record: 3-1 | Last meeting: Feb. 12, 2022 (UML, 5-2)
Charleston Southern University – All-time record: 1-0 | Last meeting: Feb. 23, 2019 (UML, 5-0)
  
Last Time Out
UMass Lowell battled against tough competition in their first invitational of the season, splitting a pair of games on opening day before dropping its final two decisions. The team was scheduled to finish the weekend with a one-off against Stonehill, but due to inclement weather, the game was canceled. The River Hawks earned an 8-1 win in the season opener against Texas Southern to highlight the weekend.
 
Leading the Flock
Seniors Lea White (Meriden, Conn.) and Ellie Frederick (Sunapee, N.H.) led the River Hawks at the plate through the first four games. White batted .375 with six hits, two doubles and four RBI, while Frederick hit .385 with five hits, five runs, one double and one RBI. Freshman Isabel Quintanilla (Puyallup, Wash.) also impressed, with a .300 batting average, two runs and three RBI, including a two-run home run. Her efforts were rewarded with the America East Rookie of the Week award, as announced by the conference on Tuesday, February 13. Graduate Student Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) started the season in the circle and was able to find her rhythm early on. She threw a complete game in her first start, allowing just four hits and one run to go along with nine strikeouts. 
  
Patience at the Plate
The River Hawks collected 22 walks over four games at the Lion Classic. Isabel Quintanilla led the squad with six, reaching base in 60% of her plate appearances. Graduate Student Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.), freshman Elizabeth Neeld (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.), and Ellie Frederick also displayed strong discipline, earning three walks each. 

Too Fast to Catch
The River Hawks came out of the weekend perfect on stolen base attempts, going 7-for-7. Ellie Frederick led all players with two stolen bases, followed by five River Hawks with one stolen base apiece.
 
Scouting the Red Storm
St. John's enters the weekend looking for its first win of 2024 after going 0-5 in its opening weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The team played strong opponents in Kansas, NC State and Liberty.
 
Last season, St. John's earned fifth place in the Big East, going 8-13 in conference, and finishing with a 23-29 overall record. Heading into the 2024 campaign, the Red Storm were predicted to finish seventh in the Big East Softball Preseason Poll with 21 points.
 
Under first-year head coach Michelle DePolo, St. John's returns many players from last year's squad, including batters London Jarrad, Jess Bianco and Katie Whittaker. Jarrad finished 2023 leading the team in several batting statistics like batting average (.360), on-base percentage (1.172), hits (50) and RBI (32). Bianco, who appeared in all 52 games last season, led the Red Storm in stolen bases (43) and runs (33), and ranked second in hits (45) and batting average (.324). Whittaker led the team in home runs (10), while finishing second in RBI (29) and on-base percentage (1.129).
 
St. John's also returns top pitchers Carolina Zamudio and Lorely Francia for 2024. Zamudio returns to the circle after leading the team in almost every pitching statistic in 2023. In 17 starts, she went 9-5 with a 3.84 ERA, 74 strikeouts and allowed a .238 batting average against. Francia, who had a 3.92 ERA, went 6-7 in 11 starts and 26 appearances.
 
Scouting the Buccaneers
Charleston Southern concluded the 2023 season in fourth place in the Big South Conference, going 11-9 in conference and 22-29 overall. Thus far, the Buccaneers are 3-3 after winning their last two games and holding their opponents to four runs or less in their previous four games.
 
Charleston Southern was projected to finish third in the 2024 Big South Preseason Softball Poll. They collected a total of 34 points, finishing behind only Longwood and USC Upstate.
 
The team has a blend of newcomers and returners, including Preseason All-Conference Team selections Maddie Lee and Annah Junge. Lee ranked highly in several batting statistics last season, including first in runs (17), fourth in hits (26) and fifth in batting average (.241) and RBI (8). Junge, who earned Second-Team All-Conference honors in 2023, was a reliable ace for the Buccaneers. In 28 starts, she went 19-9 with a 2.50 ERA, throwing 158 strikeouts, 25 complete games and eight shutouts, all of which ranked first on the squad. They also bring back top hitters Harper Schoeneweis and Gracie Prince to the 2024 lineup. Schoeneweis led the team in RBI (18) and doubles (6), and ranked second in home runs (2), hits (31), on-base percentage (.646) and slugging percentage (.331). Prince was not far behind, finishing first in home runs (3), second in RBI (17), and third in runs (14), hits (28) and slugging percentage (.312).