Game #1 Box Score
Game #2 Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. – In the final day of the George Mason Invitational, the University of Hartford softball team split its last two games, first dropping a 6-3 decision to the Cornell Big Red before defeating George Mason, the Invitational's host team, in a 3-0 final on Sunday morning.
The Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the Pioneers in the first inning and never looked back as senior hurler Siera Sheehan went the distance, scattering just six hits while striking out four to earn her second win of the season and help Hartford improve to 2-6.
Four different Hawks collected hits on the final game of the Invitational, led by second baseman Amber Andrews and left fielder Peyton Fisher who each finished 2-for-3 while scoring one run apiece for Hartford.
A rookie, Fisher's triple in the opening inning proved to be the game changer as it drove in Andrews, who led off the frame with a base hit, to make it a 1-0 game with no outs.
Hartford's bats remained hot in that opening inning. Junior Kate Wacyk followed suit and powered a double to left center field, allowing Fisher to score and make it a 2-0 game with still no outs recorded.
Following a pitching change that saw Harvell replace starting hurler Buffington, Jordan Haines was hit by a pitch and Melani Maxwell earned a walk to load up the bases. Chelsey Mooney, a sophomore first baseman, wrapped up the inning's scoring when she launched a deep sacrifice fly, plating Wacyk for the Hawks' third run of the game.
The Pioneers managed to get just eight base runners on the paths and never threatened to put runs up on the scoreboard. In the second inning, George Mason had runners on second and third with just one out but Sheehan eluded Prince into a fly out to centerfield. The Hawks' defense would put down the Pioneers in the same play, as they retired Doiron, the lead runner who opened the frame with a single, at the plate, keeping George Mason scoreless.
For George Mason (5-10), Dudley finished 2-for-3 and was the only Pioneer to notch multiple hits.
In the opening game, Hartford and Cornell traded zeroes for four innings before the Hawks lit up the scoreboard with three runs in the top of the fifth. Prior to that, both teams combined for just two base runners with Devynne Butler connecting for the only hit for the Hawks that span - a single in the opening inning. Sophomore Kaitlyn Meade retired 12 of the first 13 Big Red batters she faced through the first five innings.
In the top of the fifth, Mooney led off with an infield single and after Jackie Kelly was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, Erica Phelps brought Mooney home on a double to left field. Onyon nearly got Cornell out of the jam by putting down the next two Hawks she faced on infield ground outs, however the second, which came off of the bat of Fisher, allowed Kelly to score from third base. Hartford's final run of the frame came on an infield single by Andrews which plated Phelps to make it a 3-0 game.
Cornell got those three runs back in bottom of the seventh frame using a lead-off double, a Hartford error and an outfield single to plate its first score of the game. With runners on second and third, the Big Red knotted up the score at 3-3 after Gaeta notched a bases clearing double to left field.
Both teams were unable to plate runs in the eighth inning and after Hartford came up empty in the top of the ninth, Cornell capitalized with a three-run home run off the bat of Creamer to score the win. Hartford has seen extra innings three times this year.
Hartford enjoys four days off before flying south for the USF Spring Break Tournament where they are scheduled to play five games over a three-day span, starting with two games on Friday. The Hawks will kick-off the Tournament with Coastal Carolina at 2:15 p.m. before taking on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at 6:45 p.m.
