BOX SCORE - GAME #1
BOX SCORE - GAME #2

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – In its final non-conference games of the season, the University of Hartford fell to the Sacred Heart Pioneers in a pair of games on Wednesday afternoon. An RBI triple by Kate Wacyk followed by a two-run double by Chelsey Mooney put the Hawks out in front early at 3-0 but the Pioneers rallied for four runs in the fifth frame to steal the opening game. The Pioneers went on to complete the sweep with a 4-1 triumph in game two.

Hartford drops to 9-41 on the season while Sacred Heart concludes its 2012 campaign at 21-32.

In the opening game, Hartford did its scoring early and quickly, plating three runs on a pair of hits in its first at-bats. Andrews, the lead-off hitter, started things off with a walk for the Hawks and advanced 60 feet when the next batter, Shannon Simpkins, grounded out to Sacred Heart's shortstop. Wacyk, a right-handed batter, then slammed her team-best triple to the opposite field to make it 1-0 with just one out.

Following her classmate's three-bagger, Jordan Haines earned a free pass to first base and moved to second base on an infield groundout, allowing a bases clearing, two-out double off the bat of Mooney to provide the Hawks with the 3-0 advantage after just one frame of softball.

 Sacred Heart chipped into the deficit in the home half of the second with a lead-off homerun by Liz Tsipouras. From that point on, Siera Sheehan allowed just one batter past second base through the next three frames, however, the Pioneers began to find their stride against the Hawks' ace in the bottom of the fifth .

In that frame, the Pioneers used three-straight hits to scratch three runs across the scoreboard and complete the comeback.  With one batter retired, Jade Bowins beat out a grounder to the third baseman for an infield hit and Melissa Tobin followed suit with a single allowing a long ball off the bat of Nicole Sidor to provide the home team with the 4-3 advantage, one it would not relinquish.

Hartford again grabbed the early advantage again in game two, manufacturing a run in the opening inning. After leading off with a single and swiping second base, Andrews was sacrificed to third base. The sophomore then plated her team's lone run after advancing 60 feet on a sacrifice fly by Wacyk.

In the home half of the same frame, Sacred Heart leveled the score at 1-1 on an RBI single by Nikki Surkes. The Pioneers then grabbed the lead, one it would not relinquish, in the bottom of the third as Justine Sibtrop notched a bases clearing triple off of Hawks' hurler Ana Alberti to push ahead by a 4-1 count.

The Hawks conclude their 2012 campaign when the host Maine for a three-game America East conference series. The Hawks and Black Bears will play two games on Saturday with start time slated for 12:00 p.m., and will conclude the series on Sunday with a single game at noon. Simpkins and Sheehan, Hartford's two seniors, will be honored prior to Sunday's first pitch with a Senior Day ceremony.