(photo courtesy of Sarah Mahannah) “Isabella Quintanilla swings at incoming pitch.”
Sarah Mahannah
Connector Editor
The River Hawk softball team (6-19, 1-4 America East) had a rough time against the UAlbany Great Danes (18-7, 7-1 America East) in their home opener, losing both games in the doubleheader on Wednesday, April 9 at the Riverview Field.
Senior Cayla Tulley acquired an RBI single and a walk when the River Hawks lost 9-1 during the first game.
Sophomore Giana LaCedra was the starting pitcher during game one and got one strikeout during her 3.1 innings on the circle. Freshman Olivia DeCitise took over the mound and stayed there for the remainder of the game. DeCitise allowed two hits and threw two strikeouts.
During game two, graduate student Ryley White pitched the first 5 innings and grabbed five strikeouts before junior Jen Slanovec and DeCitise came in for relief. Slanovec finished with three hits and one run allowed.
The Great Danes started game one off strong by loading the bases with a walk and two singles. They would take the lead after junior Victoria Vilarchao was hit by a pitch and sent her teammate Jordan Nastos home.
Later, UAlbany furthered its lead with a grand slam from Wendi Hammond, which would make the score 5-0 going into the second. The River Hawks would stay scoreless and in the third Vilarchao had a RBI double to bring the score up to 6-0.
At the top of the fourth, Albany was able to score three more runs after bases were loaded. Petrella was able to run a single into right-center, and Mitros and Petty could run home. These would be the final runs for the Great Danes.
The score would be 9-0 before the River Hawks’ first run would happen. Unfortunately, the mercy rule would be applied due to the score being 9-1 and the game would end after five innings.
The second game was at a standstill for the first five innings; But when the Great Danes were at bat, things would change. They had two outs but would hit a ball to right field, and with that, get two runs. During the next pitches, the runner on first was able to steal second and third base after the pitcher fumbled. Luckily, after this, Isabella Quintanilla caught a ground ball at second and made a quick throw to first, getting the batter out and ending the inning.
During the sixth inning, Lowell would go scoreless again, but graduate student Maddi Petrella would hit to right field and take first. After Petrella, Vilarchao scored a homerun out of the park and brought herself and Petrella home, bringing them up to 7-0.
After this, Lowell swapped White with Slanovec. She would send a batter to first after hitting them with the ball. Although they tried to fight to score, their hits would not be powerful enough and would allow a home run in the seventh to end up with UAlbany winning the series altogether.
The River Hawks will be away for the weekend for a series against UMBC before coming home for a doubleheader against Binghamton University on Wednesday, April 17 with games at 1pm and 3pm.
