BC Softball: Eagles Top UMass Lowell, 5-3

LOWELL, Mass. – The Boston College softball team snapped a three-game losing streak with its third straight program victory over UMass Lowell on Tuesday afternoon, defeating the River Hawks 5-3 at River View Field. The River Hawks entered the game on a seven-game winning streak.

BC jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by senior Annie Murphy and a sacrifice fly by freshman Emme Martinez. The Eagles added three more runs in the following inning when, with two outs and two runners on base, junior Lexi DiEmmanuele reached on a throwing error by the UMass Lowell pitcher that allowed both base runners to score and the inning to continue. Senior Chloe Sharabba hit a single to right field to plate DiEmmanuele and put the Eagles up 5-0.

Senior Jessica Dreswick held the River Hawks hit-less through four innings. UMass Lowell added two runs in the fifth off of a pair of singles and a triple and tacked on one run in the sixth but it would not be enough as BC held on to secure a 5-3 victory.

Dreswick threw a complete seven innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs and recording two strikeouts.

BC will return for its final nonconference game of the season tomorrow, Wednesday, May 2 when it hosts Bryant at 4 p.m. at the Harrington Athletics Village at Brighton Fields.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Boston College 5, UMass Lowell 3
Records: Boston College (27-21, 11-9 ACC), UMass Lowell (19-23, 12-2 AE)
Location: Lowell, Mass. (River View Field)
Time of Game: 1:40
Weather:  60 degrees, cloudy

Inside the Boxscore:

• UMass Lowell was on a seven-game win streak entering today’s contest. The River Hawks are leading the America East standings with a 12-2 conference record and BC handed them their fifth home loss of the year.
• BC is now 3-0 versus the River Hawks all-time. The Eagles won the first contest in 2016, 8-0, in five innings and defeated UMass Lowell, 3-1, last season. In the history between the two teams, BC has outscored the River Hawks 16-3.
• Today marked the first time in three games that BC scored first in the contest.
• DiEmmanuele has now reached base safely in nine straight games as she drew a walk in the first inning. DiEmmanuele also stole her team-leading 24, 25 and 26^th bags of the season. This is the second time this season that the junior has stolen three bases in one game as she also swiped three bags against Louisville on Friday, April 27. She is in second place on the BC all-time list with 80 career stolen bases. DiEmmanuele also scored a team-leading two runs on the day. She is second on the team with 33 runs scored in the season.
• Murphy has reached base in 24 straight games as the senior picked up a single in the first inning. She is also riding a three-game hitting streak.
• Dreswick picked up her 16^th victory of the season as she is first in BC history with 57 career victories. She threw her 16^th complete game of the season and her 44^th career complete game.

Turning Point:.
DiEmmanuele hit a ball back to the River Hawk pitcher in the second inning with a runner on second and third and two outs. Lovina Capria over-threw the UMass Lowell first baseman, allowing both base runners to score and DiEmmanuele to reach base. A single by Sharabba allowed BC to cap off a three-run inning and take a lead that it would hold for the remainder of the game.

How it Happened:

• BC opened the scoring in the first inning when DiEmmanuele drew a lead-off walk and quickly stole second. Sharabba reached on a walk.  DiEmmanuele stole third and Sharabba advanced to second to give the Eagles runners on second and third with nobody out. Murphy hit a single to the first baseman to plate DiEmmanuele and advance Sharabba. Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Sharabba and put the Eagles up 2-0.
• The Maroon and Gold continued its scoring in the second inning when freshman Cami Sellers picked up a one-out hit through the left side. Senior Jordan Chimento reached on a hit by pitch. Sophomore Olivia Markopoulos advanced the base runners with a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, DiEmmanuele hit the ball back at the pitcher, who overthrew the ball to first base, allowing the junior to reach on the error and advance to second on the play and scoring both Sellers and Chimento. Sharabba hit a single to right to plate DiEmmanuele and put the Eagles up 5-0.
• Dreswick allowed her first hit of the game to open up the fifth inning when Maria Moccio hit a bloop single to left field. Two foul-fly outs later, Madison Alcorn hit a triple to the right-field wall, scoring Moccio. Marianna Sparacia singled through the right side to plate Alcorn, making the score 5-2.
• The River Hawks added a run in the sixth inning when Sara Siteman led off with a walk. With one out, Sydney Barker hit a single to the shortstop, allowing Siteman to advance to second. Sharbba over-threw freshman Cami Sellers at first, allowing Siteman to score and pulling UMass Lowell within two.

Up Next:
BC will close out non-conference play when it hosts Bryant tomorrow, Wednesday, May 2 at 4 p.m. at the Harrington Athletics Village at Brighton Fields.