How It Happened
Rhode Island rallied from a four-run deficit to tie the game, only to give up five in the top of the seventh, leading to a 9-4 loss to Massachusetts Tuesday afternoon.

The Rams (9-25, 4-11 Atlantic 10) seemed to have all the momentum late. Trailing 4-0 midway through the contest, Rhody got one run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Ari Castillo singled to drive in Leilyn Alvarez.

URI came all the way back with a three-run rally an inning later. Skyler Rapuano started things off with a one-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Rachel Zingerman walked, giving the Rams speed on the bases. That paid off when Alvarez drove a hard shot through the right side that got all the way to the wall in right center for a triple, allowing Rapuano and Zingerman to scored and make the score 4-3. After a line out, Castillo drove a double to right center that plated Alvarez to tie the score.

Massachusetts (15-23, 8-6 A-10) got its leadoff batter on in the top of the sixth when Payge Suggs singled. The next batter lined a shot back up the middle, but pitcher Liz Lynchard snared it and quickly threw to first to double off Suggs. A groundout ended the frame quickly, but the Rams were retired in order in the bottom of the inning.

A sloppy top of the seventh led to Rhody's demise. Three hits, two walks, one hit batter and two errors resulted in UMass putting up five runs to ice the game. Kristina Day had an RBI single and Bella Pantoja added a two-run single to provide the key hits. Later in the inning, the Minutewomen got two runs on the same play. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch allowed Pantoja to score from third, and a throwing error brought Suggs around from second base to cap the scoring.
 
Inside the Box Scores

• Of the nine runners who scored for Massachusetts, four reached via walks or being hit by a pitch.
• The Minutewomen scored seven of their nine runs with two outs.
• Rhode Island freshman Leiyln Alvarez tripled, singled, drove in two runs, scored twice and stole one base.
• The steal was her 10th of the season.
• Senior Ari Castillo doubled, singled and drove in two runs.
• With the two RBI, Castillo moved into a tie for 10th place in program history with 72 career RBI. She is tied with Brittany Julich (72 from 2009-12).
• Junior Rachel Zingerman continued to swing a hot back with a double, single, walk and one run scored in four plate appearances.
• Zingerman extended her hitting streak to six games and boosted her season average to .313.
• Over the six-game streak, Zingerman is 13-for-21 (.619) with six runs scored.
• Senior Sami Villarreal, junior Skyler Rapuano and sophomore Vicki Viaclovsky each had one single. Rapuano also scored one run.

What's Next
Rhode Island hosts Holy Cross for a doubleheader Wednesday at the URI Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+.