BOSTON – The UMass Lowell softball team (9-11) dropped a pair of games on Saturday at BU Softball Field, falling 4-1 to Brown in the opener before a 7-3 setback against host Boston University in the nightcap.

"Brown was a tough one, and the weather certainly added another layer to it, but I liked the way we settled in as the day progressed," said head coach Jen Starek. "Our offense started to come around in the second game, and we'll look to build on that heading into tomorrow."

Junior Isabel Quintanilla (Puyallup, Wash.) led the River Hawks offensively on the day, going 2-for-3 in the opener against Brown. Freshman Caroline Calkins (Orting, Wash.) highlighted the second game with a two-run triple, while sophomore Thyanais Santiago (Methuen, Mass.) drove in a run against BU. Freshman Ella Van Alstyne (Beacon Falls, Conn.) also added an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the first game.

In the circle, junior Olivia DeCitise (Troy, N.Y.) struck out eight and allowed just five hits in a complete-game effort against Brown. Senior Giana LaCedra (Tyngsborough, Mass.) followed with 5.2 innings of work against Boston University, striking out four.

Game 1: UMass Lowell 1, Brown 4
The two sides were locked in a scoreless battle through the first four innings, as DeCitise worked around traffic and kept Brown off the board with help from a strong defensive play at the plate in the fourth.

The River Hawks broke through first in the top of the fifth. Quintanilla singled up the middle before sophomore outfielder Taylor Dolan (Holbrook, Mass.) entered to pinch run. After a sacrifice bunt from Calkins and a wild pitch moved Dolan to third, Van Alstyne lifted a sacrifice fly to right to give Lowell a 1-0 lead.

Brown answered in the bottom half, capitalizing on a two-out error before Elli Thompson hit a three-run home run to swing the game in the Bears' favor. Brown added an insurance run in the sixth on a solo homer from Lily Burns and held Lowell to three hits to secure the 4-1 decision.

Game 2: UMass Lowell 3, Boston University 7
Boston University struck first with a run in the opening inning and extended its lead to 4-0 in the third, highlighted by a two-run home run from Kylie Doherty.

The River Hawks responded in the top of the fourth with their best offensive frame of the day. After Julia Rowley (Beacon Falls, Conn.) reached on an error and junior Elizabeth Neeld (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) singled, Santiago delivered an RBI single to center to get Lowell on the board. Moments later, Calkins drove a triple to right center to bring home two more and cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Terriers answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and added one more in the sixth to pull away for the 7-3 final. Lowell finished with four hits in the contest, with singles from Neeld, Rowley and Santiago joining Calkins' triple.

Up Next
The River Hawks wrap up play at the BU Round Robin on Sunday with rematches against Brown and host Boston University.