Courtney Caputo went 1-for-3 with a run scored in game two
LOWELL, Mass. (March 29, 2013) -- The Franklin Pierce
University softball team fought off more than a month's worth of
weather delays and finally returned to the diamond on Friday, but
the return did not turn out well as the Ravens were swept in a
doubleheader at UMass-Lowell. The Ravens dropped game one, 7-1, and
then fell, 4-2, in game two. Franklin Pierce dipped to 2-6 overall
and 0-2 in the Northeast-10, while Lowell improved to 7-13 and 2-0
in league play.
The Ravens battled hard in game two
and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning off freshman
Sam Conners' (Jackson, N.J.) single to right
field, which plated classmate Courtney Caputo (Stony Brook,
N.Y.) on the play. Caputo, who was 1-for-3 in the game
with that run scored, had reached on a fielder's choice earlier in
the frame.
Freshman pitcher Tricia
Hansen (Mansfield, Mass.) went to work in the pitching
circle for the Ravens and made the one-run lead stand up over the
first five innings by scattering five hits over that time. She set
down the River Hawks in order in the bottom of the first, but ran
into trouble in the bottom of the third when Brianna Martin tripled
to right field to lead off the frame. Krista MacKenzie helped out
the Ravens during the next at-bat by being called out on batter's
interference and that out settled down Hansen, who induced Ally
Greene to bounce into an inning ending double-play by grounding out
back to the pitcher.
UMass-Lowell, though, was finally
able to solve Hansen in the sixth by scoring four times,
highlighted by a three-run homer from Ali Ferraro. Brianna Mahoney
extended the inning two batters later with a double and Hailey
Terrien followed by driving her in with an RBI single to left
field.
The Ravens tried to fight back in
the seventh and a lead-off solo home run from senior
Jessica Furtado (Taunton, Mass.) cut the deficit
to two. However, the Ravens were set down the rest of the frame and
could not pull off their own comeback.
Hansen suffered the loss to fall to
0-3 after yielding four runs (three earned) on 10 hits with three
strikeouts and zero walks. Terrien got the win in the circle and
Marielle Handley earned the save by pitching the seventh. Handley
had started the game for Lowell in the circle and pitched the first
three innings before coming back on in relief in the
seventh.
Game one was all River Hawks as
they scored three times in the first and a run each in the second
and third innings to blow the game open. The Ravens got their only
run of the game in the fifth when Caitlin Murphy
(Braintree, Mass.) scored on a Lowell fielding error.
Ferraro parked another homer in the first game to highlight
Lowell's offensive attack.
Senior pitcher Rachel Allen
(Hull, Mass.) got the start in the pitching circle and was
tagged with the loss after going 3.0 innings and yielding three
earned runs on four hits and a trio of walks. Handley went the
distance for Lowell to earn the win as she struck out six and gave
up just one hit.
Franklin Pierce and Lowell will
meet in another doubleheader on Saturday, which will also be held
in Massachusetts. The first game of the doubleheader will begin at
12 p.m. and will be an NE-10 conference contest. The second game
will begin at approximately 2 p.m. and will be a non-conference
tilt.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce softball, please visit the team's page at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further,
please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube
(www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook
(www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase
Franklin Pierce softball apparel can do so on the athletic
department's online store at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
