PROVIDENCE, RI ? The University of Hartford softball team dropped a doubleheader against the University of Rhode Island on Wednesday afternoon at the Dana A. Bazar Softball Complex at Rhode Island College.
The Rams took the first game on a three-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning for a 9-7 victory. Rhode Island (5-13 overall) then led 4-0 in the second game when it was called after the fifth inning due to darkness. Hartford dropped to 9-11 overall.
The first game remained scoreless until senior Nikki Thompson led off the top of the sixth with a single to right field. Two batters later, the Hawks loaded the based as Rhody starter Jill Anderson issued consecutive walks to sophomore Jackie Simonetty and freshman Rachel Clonick. After MaryBeth Ball came into relieve Anderson, pinch hitter Alex Morley plated pinch runner Kayla Demarest with a sacrifice fly to right to put the Hawks up 1-0.
The Rams bounced right back in the bottom half of the inning. Stefani Poedubicky led off with a single to left and advanced to second on a wild pitch, before reaching third on a ground-out by Shelly Petersen. Martino's sacrifice fly to right knotted the game at 1-1.
Clonick led off the eighth inning with an RBI double off the centerfield wall, plating Simonetty, who started the inning on second base. Freshman Olivia Piacentini reached on a bunt single before a double by freshman Amanda Dilworth plated Clonick to make it a 3-1 game. Sophomore Amanda Sais drove in a run later in the inning with a bases-loaded single that scored Dillworth to make it 4-1. After URI's MaryBeth Ball came in to pitch in relief, senior Kristie Rochette doubled to center to score Cericola, but Sais was thrown out at home to keep the score 5-1. Thompson reached on a fielding error by the URI shortstop, allowing Rochette to score unearned for the 6-1 lead.
In the Rhode Island half of the inning, Courtney Powers, who started the inning on second, advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a single to right by Poedubicky to make it 6-2. Following a single by Petersen that moved Poedubicky to second, Martino reached on a fielder's choice as Poedubicky was forced out at third. Melissa Wilson plated to runs with a double off the right field wall to make the score 6-4. Gentile followed with an infield single, to advance Wilson to third. Wilson would score on a dropped fly ball by the Hartford leftfielder hit by Quimby to make it 6-5. A single by Tara Hiteman scored Gentile from second to tie the game at 6-6.
In the ninth inning, Clonick knocked the first pitch she saw down the right field line to score freshman Ann Kyzer, who started the inning on second, to take a 7-6 lead, but the Hawks would strand two baserunners to end the inning.
Freshman Brittney Stratton took the circle in the ninth looking to earn the complete game win. After allowing a leadoff bunt single that gave URI runners at the corners with nobody out, she then struck out the next two batters to bring Alyssa Martino to the plate. Martino, who finished the game with four RBI, promptly deposited Stratton's offering over the right-center fence for the game-winning runs. Stratton gave up five earned runs on 10 hits in 8.2 innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters.
In the second game, the Rams scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the first inning to hold on for the sweep. Poedubicky led off with a triple down the right field line, before scoring on a RBI single up the middle by Martino. Peterson, who has reached on an error by the Hartford pitcher, advanced to second. After loading the bases, the Rams scored three more runs on DiBussolo's double to right field to make it 4-0.
Katie Halcomb picked up the victory for Rhode Island, striking out five while allowing only three hits in five innings of work. Freshman Gina Massaro took the loss for the Hawks, pitching five innings while giving up only one earned run on six hits. She also struck out and walked three.
Hartford will open America East play this weekend with a three-game series against Binghamton University. The Hawks and Bearcats will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 31 at 1 p.m.
