NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The University of Hartford softball team dropped a pair of games at Central Connecticut State University on Tuesday afternoon. Falling 2-0 in the opening game, the Hawks dropped a 9-6 decision in the nightcap, despite a late comeback bid. Leading Hartford (1-10) was senior Jackie Kelly, who went 4-of-6 at the plate while driving in three runs and scoring four of her own.

Central Connecticut maintains its perfect record in 2015 with a 6-0 mark. Hartford resumes action with the USF Under Armour Invitational. The five-game slate kicks off on Friday with a 1:45 matchup against Colgate.

Despite outhitting the Blue Devils, 6-4, the Hawks dropped Tuesday's opening game by a 2-0 final. Freshman Jamie Soles went 2-for-3 on the afternoon with a pair of singles while senior Maggie Betz also collected two hits in three at-bats to pace the offense.

Central Connecticut jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the game, and never looked back thanks to a solid effort from pitcher Laura Messina. The senior struck out 13 batters, including four of the final five batters she faced, to improve to 4-0 on the year.

The Hawks threatened once in the top of the fifth inning as Betz singled to left field and grabbed an extra bag on an outfield error to lead off the frame. The left fielder would be stranded on the basepaths, though, as Messina recorded two-straight strikeouts before Betz was called out at the plate on a single from Soles to end the inning.

Ashley Black, who led off the Blue Devils' bats with a bunt single, came across home for the eventual game-winning run in what proved to be a pitchers' duel between the two sides. An outfield single from Brittany Camara, who stole second in the ensuing at-bat, put runners on second and third with no outs recorded for Tori Constantin.

Despite grounding out to the shortstop, the infielder would record an RBI as Black crossed home on the play. Before the end of the inning, Central Connecticut scratched one more run across home as Eileen Purcell sent a fly ball deep into left field, allowing Camara to score on the sacrifice and make it a 2-0 contest.

For the Hawks, freshman Kelsey Bird (1-3) tossed 3.1 innings, issuing just one walk while allowing three hits, two of which came in the opening frame. Sophomore Lexi Wilkerson worked the final 2.2 frames and limited Central Connecticut to one walk and one hit during that stretch.

In game two, the Hawks fell behind the Blue Devils by a 9-0 count after the first two innings, but never gave up.

Hartford got to work in the top of the fourth, grabbing a pair of runs back on an RBI single from Brittany Wallace and an RBI double off the barrel of Marisa Ferguson.  In the following frame, the Hawks pulled within four at 9-5 thanks to a two-out, three-run blast from Kelly that plated Fried and DeMarco, who each singled with two batters out in the frame. Hartford would add one more run to its total in the top half of the sixth as Ferguson, who singled to lead off the inning and took second on a fielder's choice, was pushed home on an infield single from Soles. The Hawks would get no closer, though, as Messina, who took over for the final 1.2 innings, conceded just a single in the final inning to keep the three-run cushion.

Bianca Ross went the distance for the Hawks, conceding nine runs in the first two innings but keeping the Blue Devils off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game. She finished with two strikeouts. Sargent grabbed the win for Central Connecticut, recording one strikeout in 5.1 innings while conceding all six of the Hawks' runs.

Purcell had three RBI, all within the first opening two innings, and scored twice for the Blue Devils on a 2-for-3 effort at the plate.