SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Lea White (Meriden, Conn.) batted .714 with five hits and three runs, as the UMass Lowell softball team (6-17, AE 1-2) grabbed its first conference win in the night cap of a doubleheader against Bryant (18-8, AE 4-2) on Saturday afternoon.
The River Hawks first fell, 7-6, in a close game one before earning a 12-3 victory in six innings in game two.
L. White went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate in game two to help lift the team to the victory, in addition to totaling two RBI on the day. Sophomore Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) also finished with five hits to help lead the River Hawks offense in the twin bill, while adding a run and an RBI to her stat line. Freshman Alaina Santoli (Lovettsville, Va.) batted 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while freshman Isabel Quintanilla (Puyallup, Wash.) knocked her fourth home run of the season to go along with two runs and three RBI. Senior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) went .500 with a double, four RBI and a run, as well.
Sophomore Giana LaCedra (Tyngsboro, Mass.) started game one, going 5.0 innings pitched with five runs allowed and three strikeouts before graduate student Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) came in to finish the contest. R. White started in the circle for game two, pitching a complete-game victory with three runs allowed and three strikeouts.
The River Hawks grabbed an early lead in their first at-bat game one, as Fisher tagged a single to right field to knock in L.White, who had reached on a walk. Bryant responded in the same inning, though, drawing two walks before Alexis Clancy delivered a three-run home run to grab a 3-1 lead.
UMass Lowell cut into the deficit in the second, when L. White lined a single through the infield to drive in graduate student Brenna Davenport (Merrimack, N.H.) and make it 3-2. The River Hawks then continued to battle into the third, loading the bases for junior Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.), who put a ball in play and forced a miscue by the first baseman that plated two runs and reclaimed a 4-3 advantage for the River Hawks.
After the three-run first inning from Bryant, LaCedra and River Hawk defense found their groove, retiring ten straight batters to maintain the lead after four innings. The Bulldogs retaliated with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, however, as Aleix Hudson stepped up and knocked the Bulldogs' second homer of the afternoon to take back the upper hand, 5-4.
In the top of the sixth, Fitzgerald recorded a single to left field before Tow answered with a single of her own to left field. The outfielder could not snag the ball cleanly, and sophomore Shannon Howes (Palgrave, Ontario), who pinch-ran for Fitzgerald, would round the bases and score the game-tying run. Tow reached third after the throw from the outfielder landed in the UMass Lowell dugout. After deliberation from the umpires, Tow advanced from third and scored the go-ahead run to make 6-5.
Bryant was able to respond one final time in the bottom of the sixth, when Hannah Cochran logged the team's third home run, a two-run shot that gave the home team the 7-6 buffer it would need to hang on for victory.
The first scoring opportunity of game two came in the top of the second, when Fitzgerald got aboard with a base hit and eventually scored on a fielding error. L. White followed with an RBI single of her own before Quintanilla drilled a three-run home run to left field, recording her fourth home run of the season, to give the visitors a 5-0 edge.
The UMass Lowell defense held the Bulldogs to just one hit through the first three innings of the contest, with R. White striking out three batters.
Davenport and Santoli opened the top of the fourth with a single to left field and a bunt, respectively. L. White then stepped into the box and collected her second RBI single of the afternoon, sending a ball to left field to score Davenport. Quintanilla added a walk to load the bases ahead of a base-clearing double to the right-center gap from Fisher, extending the advantage to 9-0.
Bryant's Gracie Bishop launched a three-run homer to close the gap in the bottom of the fourth, but the River Hawks answered in the top of the fifth, as Davenport scored from third on a wild pitch, stretching the lead to 10-3.
Junior Trinadey Santiago (Cheshire, Conn.) and Fitzgerald would drive in two insurance runs in the top of the sixth to make it 12-3 before senior Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) caught the game-ending flyout in the home half of the inning, sealing the 12-3 win.
Next up, the River Hawks play their home opener at River View Field in a doubleheader against America East foe UAlbany on Wednesday, April 3, starting at 2 p.m
