GAME ONE - BOX SCORE
GAME TWO - BOX SCORE
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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Playing at home for the first time in the 2012 campaign, the University of Hartford softball team fell in a pair of tight games to the Marist Red Foxes on Wednesday afternoon. In the home debut, the Hawks dropped a 6-5 decision, coming just one run shy of erasing a four-run deficit in the seventh inning. In game two, Marist led from start to finish and pulled away with the 3-1 victory.

The Hawks dip to 4-19 on the season while the Red Foxes, who pounded out five home runs on the afternoon, improve to 12-17 overall.

Junior Kate Wacyk paced the Hawks' offense, combining for a 3-for-7 afternoon including a pair of extra-base hits and five RBIs. Inside of the circle, sophomore Kaitlyn Meade (0-10) took the loss in the opening game while Eve Clausen, a rookie, suffered the setback in game two to fall to 0-3.

In game one, the Hawks entered their final at-bats trailing by four runs but trimmed that deficit to one. Wacyk led the Hawks' offensive charge by ripping a three-run triple but unfortunately for the home team, their late rally would fall short as they were unable to push the equalizer across home plate and fell by the 6-5 final.

Trailing 1-0 after one and a half, the Hawks came knocking on the doors with back-to-back singles by Haines and Jackie Kelly and loaded up the bases on a walk issued to Melani Maxwell. Chelsey Mooney ,the designated player, provided the first Hartford run of the afternoon with a long fly ball to left field, taking the sacrifice to plate Haines from the hot corner and knot up the score at one run apiece.

In the top of the fourth, however, Danielle Koltz made it a 3-1 game in favor of the Red Foxes when she slammed a two-run shot into the nets of right center field to score Taylor Kuzma who singled to start off the frame.

Marist improved its lead to 4-1 in the next frame using another home run, this one a solo shot by Aly Klemmer with two outs, which needed a boost from the wind to just clear the fence of left centerfield fence.

Hartford tried to bounce back in the bottom of the fifth frame as it attempted to make a comeback with two outs already recorded in the inning. The Hawks rallied for back-to-back singles off the bat of Amber Andrews and Devynne Butler. Wacyk nearly advanced her teammates 60 feet each with a line drive down the middle of the infield but unfortunately for the Hawks, Marist hurler Janine Lalli was there to make the stop to conclude the inning.

The third home run for the Red Foxes, another solo shot off the bat of Lamoureux with two down, extended the visiting squad's advantage to 5-1 in the sixth. In the next at-bat, Danielle Koltz reached first on an infield single and after stealing second, was close to notching Marist's sixth run of the afternoon when Nicole DiVirgilio ripped one down the right field line however she was gunned down at home plate by the arm of Margaret Betz to prevent any more damage to the scoreboard.

The Hawks grabbed one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by the freshman, Betz. Jackie Kelly got the bats going in the frame with a two-bagger, and with her fifth run of the season, she helped close the gap to three runs at 5-2.

Marist cushioned its lead in its final at-bats on an RBI double by Klemmer but Hartford made things interesting in its final chance.

With one out, Erica Phelps reached on a fielder's choice, Andrews was hit by a newly inserted Paige Lewis pitch and Butler loaded up the bases with a bunt single, forcing Marist to make another pitching change that saw starting pitcher Lalli regain control inside of the circle.

Wacyk took advantage of the hurler in the next at-bat and blasted one into the corner of right field to clear the bases and cut Marist's four-run lead to just one tally. The Hawks were unable to find a way to push across that game-tying run as Wacyk got stuck in a pickle between third base and home on a fielder's choice and Lalli retired Kelly on a fly out to right field for the final out of the game.

In game two, Marist was quick to get a pair of runners just 60 feet from home plate in its first two go-arounds but Hartford's defense clamped down and prevented the early runs.

Lamoreaux, who reached base on a fielder's choice and stole second, nearly got the first notch up on the scoreboard when she tried to stretch a liner down the middle of the infield by Nicole DiVirgilio into a run but she was kept at bay by the arm of Phelps in centerfield.

In Marist's second inning, Joelle Zahka, the frame's lead-off batter, notched an infield hit to the shortstop, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch but was then picked off by Jordan Haines and Wacyk for the first out. Clausen then induced Klemmer into a ground out to make it two down in the frame but Birnbaum changed things quickly with the third long ball of the afternoon to put the Red Foxes ahead, 1-0.

Marist doubled its advantage in the top of the third when Joelle Zahka, connected on the second pitch that she faced in the outing and launched a homer over the fence of left centerfield to make it 2-0 in favor of the Red Foxes.

The Red Foxes would then use three hits to scratch across an insurance run in the top of the fourth, sparked by Christina Lausch, who barely got the ball over the outstretched arm of Phelps in centerfield and made it an extra-base hit. She would reach home on an RBI triple by Corriss to extend Marist's lead to 3-0.

The Hawks managed to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Wacyk's bat remained hot in game two as notched her third hit of the afternoon by smacking a deep two-bagger to right field. She then stole third and after Mooney was issued a walk, the shortstop put Hartford's first tally on the board thanks to Betz, who laced a hard single down the right field line.

After going through the order in the next two innings, the Hawks quickly put a pair of runners on the base paths, but Red Foxes' hurler Melanie White would retire the next three batters to close out the game and earn the win.

The Hawks' homestand was brief as they will hit the road again and resume America East play with a trip to Vestal, N.Y. to face the Binghamton Bearcats for a weekend series. Hartford and Binghamton kick-off the weekend on Saturday with two games starting at 1:00 p.m.