Box Score LOWELL, Mass. – Senior
Lea White (Meriden, Conn.) grabbed her fourth home run of the season, as the UMass Lowell softball team (14-27, 8-11 AE) fell, 10-2, in its final game of the series against Binghamton (32-16, 14-6 AE) on Saturday afternoon.
L. White added a run and RBI to her stat line in the series finale. Junior Trinadey Santiago (Cheshire, Conn.) also recorded a home run in the contest, while graduate student Brenna Davenport (Merrimack, N.H.) added a single to match the longest hit streak in UMass Lowell softball program history. Senior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) and sophomore Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) both collected a hit on the afternoon.
Junior Jen Slanovec (Bethlehem, Pa.) started game one in the circle before freshman Olivia DeCitise (Troy, N.Y.) came in for relief. She went 2.2 innings pitched with two strikeouts before Slanovec returned to the circle to close the game.
The Bearcats broke the game open with their first at-bat, collecting an RBI double to grab a 1-0 advantage. After an infield single put runners on the corners, first baseman Alex Musial extended the buffer with a double of her own, driving in both runners to build the lead to 3-0. The hosts then added back-to-back RBI singles to make it 5-0 at the end of the first inning.
UMass Lowell answered in the top of the second, as Santiago collected her second home run of the series to cut the deficit to 5-1.
DeCitise kept the Bearcat offense at bay after coming in for relief, allowing no hits through 2.1 innings pitched, while striking out two batters.
The River Hawks garnered another scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth, with Fitzgerald singling to left field before Santiago was hit by a pitch. However, Binghamton stamped out the chance, recording a flyout and strikeout to keep the score at 5-1. Binghamton capitalized in the bottom half of the fourth, collecting five runs to extend the buffer to 10-1.
UMass Lowell battled going into the top of the fifth, with L. White collecting a solo home run, before Davenport and Fisher collected back-to-back singles. However, it was not enough to extend the game, as the Bearcats took a 10-2 decision.
With the regular season officially over, the River Hawks will now prepare for the America East tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 8.
