West Hartford, CT ? A stellar performance in the circle by junior Brittney Stratton coupled with a six-run third inning rally helped lead the University of Hartford softball team to a 6-1 victory over Binghamton in the rubber match of the three game series at the UH Softball Field on Sunday. With the win, the Hawks improve to 18-19 overall, boasting a 9-7 record in the America East. Binghamton falls to 6-32 on the season, with a 1-17 mark in the league.
Stratton kept the Bearcats' bats silent for the first 7.1 innings, falling just two outs away from throwing the second no-hitter of her collegiate career. Binghamton's lone hit, and run, came off a solo shot by sophomore Deannie Plemon. Stratton finished the game with eight strikeouts ? walking just two batters and allowing one run ? to earn her 13th victory of the season.
In a rematch of game one's battle between Stratton and Binghamton hurler Cyrilla Suker, the final game of the series opened with what seemed to be a pitcher's duel. In the first two innings, each team managed to get just one runner on the bags, with Hartford earning a walk in the second and Binghamton getting a base on balls in the top half of the third frame.
The pace of the game changed significantly as the Hawks lit up the scoreboard in the third inning, notching a six-run rally to take an impressive 6-0 lead over the Bearcats. Senior Lindsey Anrico got the Hartford bats going, leading off the bottom of the stanza with a double to left field. Teammate Catherine Granato, who pinch ran for Anrico, reached third base on a sacrifice bunt by second baseman Kayla Demarest. With just one out, red-shirt freshman Shannon Simpkins perfectly landed a bunt between the circle and home plate, reaching first on the play and scoring Granato for the first run of the game. The scoring continued for the Hawks as Sara Messinger walked, and Simpkins and Messinger both advanced to scoring position on a double steal. Junior Ann Kyzer reached base on a fielder's choice, scoring Simpkins on the play for the second run of inning. Following a walk issued to senior Amanda Sais to load up the bases, classmate Kristen Cericola smacked a triple down the left field line to drive in three runs, and crossed the plate on a throwing error by the Binghamton third baseman Chelsea Horne.
The Hawks will host a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday with in-state rival Central Connecticut for their final home contest of the regular season at the UH Softball Field. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 2:30 p.m.
