Box Score ORONO, ME. – Junior Trinadey Santiago (Cheshire, Conn.) crushed her third home run in the last four games in the sixth inning to propel the No. 5 seeded UMass Lowell softball team (15-27) to a 4-2 victory against No. 4 UMBC (22-22) on Wednesday morning in the first round of the 2024 America East Championship.
"It was a really exciting game," commented Head Coach Jen Starek after today's performance. "Ryley did a great job for us in the circle and our defense held solid when we needed it."
Santiago added a run and two RBI on the afternoon. Senior Elizabeth Fredrick (Sunapee, N.H.) recorded a hit with two runs scored, while junior Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.) added a double and RBI. Senior Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, N.J.) collected a double to round out the River Hawk hitting.
"Trinadey has been working really hard all offseason," said Starek when asked about Santiago's impact in the lineup. "She's made some good adjustments to her game and it's really paying off."
Graduate student Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) took the circle for the first-round matchup, pitching a complete game victory with eight strikeouts.
After a scoreless first inning from both sides, Frederick started the top of the second with a walk before sophomore Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) was hit by a pitch to put multiple runners on. Up stepped Tow, who drove a ball to deep center field to clear the bases and put the River Hawks up 2-0.
UMBC threatened to cut into the lead in the bottom half of the inning, though, when the squad put runners on the corners. However, the River Hawk defense flamed out the opportunity, as freshman Isabel Quintanilla (Puyallup, Wash.) recorded a routine groundout to first to close the inning. The Retrievers would continue to keep the pressure on, loading the bases during their next plate appearance. Senior Lea White (Meriden, Conn.) made quick work to extinguish the scoring chance, fielding a slow rolling ground ball to keep a two-run advantage through three complete.
UMBC scratched across its first run in the bottom of the fourth when Emily Riggs hit a solo home run to center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1. The Retrievers then scored the game-tying run after Ella Squaires hit a RBI single up the middle.
The River Hawks battled back to start the sixth, when Frederick grabbed a leadoff single and advanced to second thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Fitzgerald. With the runner in scoring position, Santiago came up clutch, crushing a two-run home run to deep left field, putting UMass Lowell back in front, 4-2.
R. White continued to limit the Retriever offense, and although UMBC battled in its final at-bats of the game, UMass Lowell held on for the 4-2 win.
The River Hawks will now face off against top-seeded UAlbany on Thursday, May 9 at 11 a.m.
