West Hartford, CT ? The University of Hartford softball team split a pair of games with Sacred Heart University on Thursday afternoon, defeating the Pioneers by a 3-1 final in the first game, and snapping its six-game winning streak in the night cap by a score of 3-0 at the UH Softball Field.
The Hawks rallied in the sixth inning, plating three runs to come back from a 1-0 deficit for the win in game one. Hartford junior Ann Kyzer led the Hawks' offense, batting a perfect 3-for-3 with the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the sixth. Junior right-hander Brittney Stratton pitched seven innings for the Hawks, giving up one run on four hits with two strikeouts to earn her seventh victory of the season.
Stratton ran into trouble in the top of the second, loading the bases on a two-out single up the middle infield by Sacred Heart first baseman Courtney Lee, followed by back-to-back walks. Taylor Froelich, the shortstop, grounded out to third to get Stratton out of the jam without any damage to the scoreboard.
The Pioneers scratched their first and only run of the game in the top of the fourth. A single to left field off the bat of second baseman Betsy Harvey opened the inning. Junior Adrian Fitzsimon was hit by a Stratton pitch to put runners at first and second with zero out. Jasmin Vicente, the third baseman, successfully landed a sacrifice bunt to send runners to second and third. Sacred Heart plated its lone run on an illegal pitch by Stratton, scoring Harvey. The Hawks earned the final two outs of the inning as Stratton struck out rookie Alyssa Garza and Kristen Cericola made a great over the head catch in center field to close out the top of the stanza.
In the bottom of the sixth, Hartford left fielder Shannon Simpkins opened the inning with a leadoff walk followed by a stolen base, which turned into the Hawks' first run of the game. Messinger's single through the middle of the infield drove in Simpkins. Left-handed slap hitter Amanda Sais drew a walk off of Sacred Heart starter Jen Russell to put runners at first and second for Kyzer, who ripped a shot over the head of Pioneer first baseman to driving home Sais for Hartford's third run of the inning. Cericola reached base on a fielder's choice, and after stealing second with freshman Erica Phelps at the plate, Russell got the Pioneers out of the inning, striking out the rookie.
Leading the Pioneers was Harvey, who finished 1-for-3 at the plate with one RBI. Russell pitched six innings for Sacred Heart, giving up three runs on six hits while recording three stirkeouts.
In the nightcap, Sacred Heart (8-15) used three hits to plate two runs in the top of the first for the early advantage over Hartford (10-10). A leadoff double by Sacred Heart center fielder Taylor Froelich got the Sacred Heart bats going off Hartford rookie Siera Sheehan. Sophomore Shannon McCoy doubled with one out to bring home Froelich for the first run of the game. The Pioneers plated the second run of the frame off a base hit by senior Betsy Harvey, driving in McCoy for a 2-0 score in favor of the Pioneers.
Sacred Heart added one more notch to the scoreboard in the fourth inning when Lee led off the inning with a double over the head of left fielder Simpkins. A well-landed sac bunt by Harvey advanced Lee to third, who crossed the plate on a suicide-squeeze by Fitzsimon. Fitzsimon reached second on a ground out up the first base line, and another grounder to Hartford first baseman Olivia Piacentini allowed the Hawks to escape the inning.
The Hawks had an opportunity to plate runs in the bottom of the sixth as Sacred Heart hurler Liz Tsipouras gave up back-to-back walks to Simpkins and Messinger. A blooper to right field by Amanda Sais loaded the bases for the Hawks with zero outs in the inning for Kyzer, who entered the nightcap batting on fire, sporting a .600 average over the past six games. Sacred Heart made a change inside the circle, replacing Tsipouras with Russell to face Kyzer. The Pioneers turned a triple play off of a ground ball hit down the third base line, with Sacred Heart freshman Jill Timmer tagging Simpkins, stepping on the third base bag for the second out, and firing to second base to retire Sais.
In the loss, Sheehan threw for seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits while striking out two. Tsipouras pitched five innings for Sacred Heart, allowing three hits and recording six strikeouts. Russell worked two innings for the Pioneers, tallying one strikeout in four batters faced.
The Hawks travel to Albany for a three-game weekend series with the Great Danes. The first pitch of the series will be thrown on Saturday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m.
