Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford softball team exchanged a pair of shutouts with the visiting Maine Black Bears on Saturday, scoring a 2-0 win in the opening game before falling, 10-0, in five innings in the nightcap. Game three of both teams' America East openers will be played on Sunday at 12 noon.

Snapping a three-game win-streak with the setback in game two, Hartford dips to 5-12 on the season while Maine shifts to 9-9 overall with the doubleheader split.

The Hawks received a solid performance in the circle from senior Zuzana Kudernatschova in the opening game, providing enough run support for the shutout with a tally in the bottom of the third and an insurance score in the sixth. In the second game, Hannah Hill went the distance and compiled seven strikeouts in the process for Maine, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and never looked back.

Ending what was a pitcher's duel through the first two and a half innings of the afternoon was senior Amber Andrews, who scored the eventual game-winning run after doubling with two outs. Slamming her second double of the season into right field, she then provided the home team with the 1-0 edge in the next at-bat as Maine centerfielder Sam Ralphs fumbled freshman Mackenzie Obert's blooper to centerfield. The miscue allowed the Hawks' speedy second basemen to come across home for the first run of the afternoon.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Hawks added one more tally to their count thanks to an RBI double off the bat of senior first baseman Chelsey Mooney. Her team-best seventh two-bagger brought in freshman Mackenzie Obert, who drew a walk off Maine starter Alexis Bogdanovich to lead off the frame.

Maine's offense posted one threat in the first contest, putting runners in scoring position for the first and only time in the game during the top half of the fifth inning. Prior to that frame, Kudneratschova and the Hawks put down the first 12 Black Bears they faced in order, retiring six-straight on strikeouts during that span.

Jessica Burk got the bats going for the Black Bears, singling to start off the frame. Two batters later, Jean Stevens got a single of her own, and the duo shifted to second and third on a Felicia Lennon groundout. Kudernatschova got the Hawks out of the jam, though, as she fanned her 10th and final batter of the afternoon to end the inning and maintain the clean sheet.

The 10 strikeouts matched a career-high for Kudernatschova. The veteran scattered just three hits to earn her first shutout of the season and improve to 2-4 overall. Dropping to 2-3 with the loss, Bogdanovich struck out a pair and gave up one earned run on three hits.

In the second contest, Hawk freshman Lexi Wilkerson suffered the loss, giving up the first two runs of the game in the first inning. She went 2.1 frames before being replaced by senior Kaitlyn Meade, who allowed four earned runs in 1.2 innings of action. Junior Ana Alberti closed out the contest, conceding four earned runs on five hits.

After getting off to a hot start thanks to a first-inning RBI double by Burk and an RBI triple by EmJ Fogel, the Black Bears used a three-run fourth inning to extend their advantage to 5-0. Adding five more runs in the top half of the fifth, Hill retired the final three Hawks in order to force a rubber match on Sunday.

Obert and Alberti recorded the lone hits for Hartford in the nightcap.