BOX SCORE GAME 1
BOX SCORE GAME 2
West Hartford, Conn. – The University of Hartford softball team scored its first doubleheader sweep with 3-1 and 7-4 wins over UMBC on Friday afternoon at the Hartford Softball Complex. The Hawks improved to 7-34 overall and 2-9 in America East action.
Senior pitcher Siera Sheehan threw a pair of complete games on Friday scoring her fifth and sixth wins of the year. Sheehan combined to allow five earned runs on 13 hits with eight strikeouts in 14 innings of work. At the plate a number of different Hawks spearheaded the sweep with Kate Wacyk securing the first victory with a two RBI double and Peyton Fisher going 3-of-3 with an RBI in the second game.
In the opener, the Retrievers struck first with their only run coming in the top of the second. Freshman Courtney Paone worked a one out walk and after stealing second took third on an infield groundout. He then used a second walk issued to designated player Kaela Mason to her advantage and as Mason stole second, Paone swept home plate and put the visitors on the board.
The Hawks were able to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning, using a leadoff walk to their advantage. The walk issued to Jordan Haines was followed up with a single to centerfield putting two runners one before a one out fielder's choice put runners on the corners. Haines was then able to score as Devynne Butler muscled out an RBI single to first base.
The Hawks added the game-winning runs in the fifth inning after it looked like the Retrievers were going to work out of bases loaded with one out when they caught Butler at home plate on a fielder's choice for the second out in the inning. Wacyk then came to the plate with runners on first and third and following a successful stolen base for Shannon Simpkins lofted a shot to center field. That single allowed Amber Andrews to score from third and Simpkins from second for the go ahead scores.
Sheehan then worked out of two runners in scoring position following back-to-back walks to open the sixth inning by sitting down the next three batters on a pair of groundouts and a fly ball to left field. She would then retire three batters in order in the seventh securing the first victory of the day.
In the second game, Hartford struck first sending 11 batters to the plate in the fifth inning and following four walks and three singles scoring five runs. The Hawks led off the inning with back-to-back singles from Fisher and Andrews and after a walk and fielder's choice kept the bases loaded, starter Heather Brown walked two straight batters for the first two runs of the game. After replacing Brown with one out in the stanza, Kayla Martinez began her afternoon on the mound by walking Melani Maxwell which forced the third run.
Following a strikeout from Martinez for the second out, Butler and Fisher weren't going to let the bases stay loaded without pushing more runs across the plate, both recording one run singles to give the Hawks the 5-0 advantage.
UMBC managed to cut that lead by more than half scoring three runs in the fifth inning, tagging Sheehan for three hits, including a two run double off the bat of right fielder Katie Ferguson. The Retrievers only other run in the inning came as a last ditch effort in the seventh, when with one out Jessica Warner and Taylor Hall smacked a double and a single respectively, with Hall's hit forcing Warner across the plate. Sheehan would shut down the Retrievers with a fielder's choice infield groundout and a foul out at first base to secure the victory in game two.
The Hawks would close out the game with two more run, one in the fifth and one more in the sixth, the latter of which came with one swing of the bat as Wacyk sent her third home run of the season into the netting beyond the left field fence. The Hawks run in the fifth inning came courtesy of back-to-back singles from Fisher and Andrews, with the Hawks second baseman getting the RBI as she knocked Fisher in from second on a ball she lifted into center field.
The Hawks and Retrievers will close out the three-game series with a single game on Saturday afternoon at the Hartford Softball Complex. Hartford and UMBC are scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. start on Saturday, a change from the originally scheduled 1:00 p.m. start.
