Softball Splits with UMass-Lowell

Boxscore Game 1    -    Boxscore Game 2

Springfield, Mass. - Sophomore Sara Swepston (Dallas, Pa.) fired a complete game two hit shutout in the second of AIC's two Northeast-10 match-ups with UMass-Lowell Sunday afternoon at Groff Field in Springfield. The Yellow Jackets dropped game one 3-0, but returned the favor in the second contest, winning by the same 3-0 score.  The split moves AIC to 10-7 on the year and 1-1 in the Northeast-10. The River Hawks go to 4-7 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

In game one, despite a strong performance in the circle from junior Sara Puglisi (Amsterdam, N.Y.) the Yellow Jackets were shutout by UMass-Lowell starting pitcher Lindsay Farmer who gave her squad a complete game two hit showing on the rubber. Puglisi gave up only three runs over seven innings for AIC.  

The River Hawks got on the board first in the second inning when game two starter Katelyn Hebert drilled a homerun over the left field fence giving her team a 1-0 lead. The River Hawks nodded two more scores in the fifth inning, knocking seven hits in the game one victory.

In the second contest it was Swepston shutting the door on the River Hawks attack, providing AIC with a much needed strong pitching performance. The Yellow Jackets scored all of their runs in the third inning of that contest. Kellie Brown (Gill, Mass.) cracked a two run double with sophomore Michelle Franey (Abington, Mass.) on first base with one out. After Franey touched home Brown scooted over to third on a close play at the plate and crossed after River Hawks catcher Stacey Lajoie sailed the ball over the third baseman's head and into left field.

Senior Kayla Donnelly (Pittsfield, Mass.) later added the teams third run scoring on a Deanna Zanetti (Hampden, Mass.) RBI single.

The doubleheader marked the first two Northeast-10 games of the 2008 season for AIC. The squad will travel to New Haven Tuesday afternoon for a 3:00 pm doubleheader start time.