GAME #1 BOX SCORE
GAME #2 BOX SCORE
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The University of Hartford softball team took one of two games on the final day of the Rebel Spring Games. The Hawks dropped a 4-0 decision to Colgate before bouncing back for a 3-2 win over Rider to wrap up action in the Sunshine State.
The Hawks went 5-3 at the Rebel Games and improve to 7-4 overall.
In game two against Rider, Brittney Stratton pitched a complete game allowing eight hits and no earned runs as. The senior finished with four strikeouts earning her fifth win of the season.
The Broncs jumped out to a 1-0 lead on an RBI by junior Brittney Eckett, scoring Ally Melia in the first inning. Melia, Rider's lead-off batter, reached base on an infield error, pushed up 60 feet on a sacrifice fly and crossed home on a right field single by Eckett.
Freshman Jordan Haines knotted the score at 1-1 in the top of the second. The rookie walked, advanced 60 feet on a passed ball, reached third on a single to left field by classmate Kate Wacyk and crossed home on a fielding error by the Broncs' short stop.
After Rider broke the tie in the bottom of the third, Hartford answered with a pair of runs in the next frame to take its first lead of the game at 3-2. With Haines and Wacyk on the corners, the Hawks cashed in on an infield error for their second run of the game and plated Wacyk on a sacrifice fly by Erica Phelps.
Despite a 3-for-4 performance at the plate by Jessica Oliveira and eight strikeouts by Siera Sheehan, Hartford was blanked by Colgate, 4-0, in Saturday's opening game.
The Hawks only managed six hits off Michelle Hollebeke who fanned five batters in the shutout.
Colgate got all it would need in the top of the first as Stephanie Hartquist plated Alana Dyson with a run-scoring single. Hartford led of its at-bats with a walk by Amanda Dilworth followed by a double by Oliveira, but the Raiders' hurler put down the Hawks in order to get out of the inning.
The Raiders tacked on three runs in the fifth – all coming after two outs.
Hartford saw another chance to light up the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth when Wacyk led off with a double. The freshman advanced to third on a wild pitch, and with two down, Dilworth worked a walk off Hollebeke sending Oliveira to the plate with runners on first and third. The rookie center fielder was unable to convert for the only time in the game however as she grounded to second base to end the frame.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday, March 27 when they welcome the Maine Black Bears to West Hartford for the start of America East conference play. The three-game series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) followed by a single game at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday.
