River Hawks provide setbacks in Twin Bill at Coastal Carolina

CONWAY, SC Junior Elizabeth Frederick (Sunapee, NH) totaled two hits as the UMass Lowell softball team (0-4) dropped its doubleheader to end action at Coastal Carolina on Friday.

The River Hawks fell 9-2 in the first game before facing a tight 1-0 loss in the second game.

Frederick recorded a hit in each contest with an RBI in the first inning of the day, also leading the River Hawks. Senior Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) registered one hit, one RBI and one run to add to the offense. Graduate student Emily Reid (Dighton, Mass.) made the game’s one decision in the circle as a senior Kaylie See (Chino, Calif.) recorded the decision in the second game in four innings.

The Chants went three up and three down in Reid’s first inning as a River Hawk in the circle, but loaded the bases in the second before Keirstin Roose drove in a bases-clearing double to give his team an early lead. He was then thrown home on the next play thanks to a ball off the wall by Diamond Williams.

The home team added to the margin in the third inning with a three-run homer by Maddie Jennings. However, UMass Lowell answered on its next trip to the plate as Tulley drove a ball up the middle to score the sophomore. Mya’s case (Syracuse, NY) before starting a run of their own on Frederick’s base hit to left-center to close the gap to 7-2.

However, Coastal Carolina managed to get two runs back in the sixth with a long two-run shot by Iyanla De Jesus to make it 9-2.

In the second game, See got a pair of Chants runners in the first game to keep the game in scoring position. Back in singles from the juniors in the second Morgan Fisher (Glassboro, NJ) and Frederick put the River Hawks on the corners, but the 0-0 deadlock remained intact until the bottom of the inning when Jennings led off with a solo shot over the fence in left-center.

The defense dominated the rest of the game as the teams left four runners on base. The River Hawks threatened to close the gap in the sixth when a sophomore Tori Mueller (Clovis, Calif.) drew a walk and advanced all the way to third, but the visitors were unable to capitalize.

Next, UMass Lowell continues the tournament at the Hampton/Norfolk State Invitational on the 17th-19th. February.