LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) collected her first career grand slam, as the UMass Lowell softball team (9-26, 3-10 AE) split its doubleheader at Stonehill (11-29) on Wednesday afternoon.
The River Hawks took game one, 13-4, before falling, 6-1, in game two.
Fisher totaled two hits on the day, adding four RBI and two runs. Senior Elizabeth Frederick (Sunapee, N.H.) batted .375 with a triple and home run, three RBI and two runs. Graduate student Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) went 3-for-6 with two runs and three RBI, while senior Lea White (Meriden, Conn.) collected two hits, two runs and an RBI to her stat line. Graduate student Brenna Davenport (Merrimack, N.H.) performed well, collecting three hits and an RBI. Sophomore Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) added two hits, a run and an RBI.
Graduate student Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) took the circle for game one, pitching a complete game with nine strikeouts. Freshman Olivia DeCitise (Troy, N.Y.) started game two, going 4.2 innings pitched before junior Jen Slanovec (Bethlehem, Pa.) came in for relief and finished the contest.
Fisher and Fitzgerald grabbed back-to-back singles to open game one of the twin bill. With runners on base, Frederick crushed a triple to deep right field to clear the bases and put her squad on the board. Frederick then scored from third after the cutoff made a throwing error, giving the River Hawks a 3-0 lead after the top of the first.
Stonehill chipped away at the difference in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double, but UMass Lowell continued the hot hitting in the second, when freshman Isabel Quintanilla (Puyallup, Wash.) scored on a hard hit ball up the middle by Tulley, creating a 4-1 margin. R. White and the River Hawk defense then extinguished a threat in the home half, recording three straight outs with runners on the corners, capped off by Fisher catching her 15th runner of the season.
After a scoreless third inning, Tulley grabbed her second single of the day and advanced on an L. White double to left center before scoring ona pass ball to stretch the lead to 5-1 through four innings.
Stonehill found some momentum with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth with RBI from Harper Sullivan and Paige Wodarksi, making it 5-3. However, UMass Lowell responded to start the sixth, earning a bases-loaded opportunity for Fitzgerald, who lifted a ball past the shortstop to score L. White from third and make it 6-3.
An RBI double for the home team in the bottom of the inning made it a two-run game once again. Although the hosts then brought the tying run to the plate, R. White escaped the jam, collecting her sixth strikeout to keep the River Hawks in front.
In the seventh, the visitors reclaimed a four-run lead, as Quintanilla scored on a fielding error by the third baseman, and L. White singled to center field to score Davenport. After a pinch-hit appearance from junior Trinadey Santiago (Cheshire, Conn.) resulted in a walk to load the bases, Fisher crushed a grand slam past the center field fencing to give UMass Lowell a 12-4 lead. Frederick followed with a home run of her own, sending a solo shot to right center to extend the lead to 13-4 and help seal the victory.
Game two was a pitcher's duel, as both sides went hitless through the first two innings of the contest. Santiago recorded the first hit of the afternoon with a single to left field in the top of the third, however the game remained scoreless.
Stonehill broke open the scoring in the bottom of the third, as May Dawes hit a two-RBI single to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
The defense would continue to control the contest, allowing just two hits through the first four innings. UMass Lowell's best scoring opportunity came in the top of the fifth, after junior Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.) earned a leadoff single and was able to cross the plate on a ball put into play by Tulley.
The Skyhawks answered, though, grabbing an RBI single from Natalie Bottigleri in the bottom of the fifth, making it 3-1. The hosts added insurance runs in a Shannon Conte hit that made it 4-1, followed by an infield miscue pushed the buffer to 6-1.
The River Hawks battled in their final at-bat, but were unable to plate any runs, as the Skyhawks took the decision in game two.
The River Hawks return to River View field this weekend for a three-game series with Maine on April 27-28.
