Arm and bat of O'Riley secures split

BOSTON, Mass.—Lyndsey Capra's (Lowell, Mass.) huge day at the plate helped UMass Boston softball (6-13) earn a home doubleheader split with Salve Regina University (11-11) Wednesday afternoon at the UMB Softball Field.

Capra scored a pair of runs in game one including the walk-off game-winning run to help the Beacons earn a 3-2 victory in game one. The junior center fielder added two more hits and a team-high three RBI in the second contest, but the Seahawks had too much firepower in a 9-4 game two victory. On the day, Capra finished 3-5 with two runs and three RBI.

Freshman Kaitlyn Morse (Arlington, Mass.) added a pair of hits and two RBI on the day, while Haley Dutton (Milton, Mass.), Gia Raczkowski (Stoneham, Mass.) and Kristina Bove (Medford, Mass.) each matched Capra for the team-high with three hits on the day.

Game One: UMass Boston 3, Salve Regina 2

After leading or being tied for the first five innings, UMass Boston needed a two-run, seventh inning rally to earn their third-consecutive victory over the Seahawks. 

Capra and Morse provided the majority of the offense for the Beacons in the first game, as Capra crossed the plate on two occasions thanks to Morse RBI singles. Dutton added a pair of hits in three at-bats and Toni Scola (Worcester, Mass.) added a single and the game-tying run for the Beacons.

Sophomore Emily Gray (New Bedford, Mass.) locked down the red-hot Seahawks offense, allowing just eight hits and two unearned runs. The right-hander struck out two and avoided walking a batter, to improve her record to 3-6.

Nicole Parry, the Seahawks ace, allowed seven hits and three runs, one earned, over 6.1 innings to take the loss (5-4).

UMass Boston opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. Capra belted the first of her two triples on the day to left-center to lead-off the inning, and scampered home moments later when Morse laced a single to left-center field.

Salve Regina threatened to tie the game in the next half-inning, but Lauren Mitsiaris (Taunton, Mass.) threw out a runner trying to score from third on a groundout, to end the inning.

The Seahawks finally broke through in the top of the sixth thanks to a Gray miscue. With runners at second and third after two singles and a wild pitch, Gray fielded a grounder back to the mound and overthrew her first baseman, to allow both runners to cross the plate.

Parry shut the Beacons down in the bottom of the sixth, but couldn't recreate her success in the seventh.

After retiring the lead-off batter, Scola rocketed a single off the shortstops' glove for a one-out single. Capra attempted to move her over with a sacrifice bunt, but the Seahawks' catcher's throw caught Capra in the back and bounced away, to allow Scola to score and Capra to move all the way over to third. Four pitchers later Morse gave the Beacons reason to celebrate, as the freshman singled to left field to plate Capra and give the Beacons a 3-2 win.

Game Two: Salve Regina 9, UMass Boston 4

The two team's offenses woke up in the second game, as the teams combined for 13 runs and 20 hits, including eight runs between the bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth inning. After the Beacons tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth, Salve Regina responded with four of their own in the fifth and cruised to a 9-4 win.

Sara Nelson and Nikki Bukovsky each recorded a pair of RBI for the Seahawks who came into today's doubleheader averaging 9.3 runs per game over their past 10. Freshman pitcher Kara O'Riley allowed eight hits and four runs, three earned, over five innings to pick up her first collegiate victory.

Capra led the Beacons offensive charge with two hits in three at-bats and three RBI, while Raczkowski led the team with a 3-for-4 game two. Dutton finished 1-for-3 with a run and her first collegiate RBI in the loss.

Junior pitcher Michelle Zullo (Everett, Mass.) took the loss, after allowing nine runs, seven earned, on 10 total hits. She did manage to strike out four Seahawks, while allowing just one walk.

Salve Regina took an early 2-0 lead in the first against Zullo, behind back-to-back RBI extra-base hits from Jenna Edine and O'Riley. The Seahawks tacked on two-out runs in the top of the third and fourth innings to push their lead to 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

UMass Boston started their rally with one down, as Gray reached on an error by the first baseman and moved over to third base on Mitsiaris' double to the wall in right field. Dutton followed with a soft grounder to the shortstop to plate Gray and give the Beacons their first run of the game. After Scola walked to load the bases, Capra crushed a triple to right-center field to easily score all three runners and tie the game at 4-4. Capra attempted to come home on a wild pitch moments later, but the umpire called her out on a bang-bang play.

The tie wouldn't last very long, as Salve Regina went back up by four in the next half-inning. Nelson laced a single off of Mitsiaris' glove at first base to score two and give the Seahawks a 6-4 lead with no outs. Three batters later, Bukovsky ripped a two-run, two-out triple down the right-field line to push the lead back to four.

Salve Regina added a single run in the sixth inning and UMass Boston failed to get anything going on reliever Kelsey Boarman, to help Salve Regina earn the 9-4 win.