CLEARWATER, Fla. – In its final games in the Sunshine State, the University of Hartford softball team dropped two games on Tuesday afternoon. The Hawks fell to Canisius, 11-0, in five innings in the opening game before dropping a 9-0 five-inning affair to USF in the nightcap. Hartford drops to 1-17 overall.
Canisius improved to 6-8 with the 11-0 win over Hartford in its first game. Led by a 3-for-3 effort at the plate from Bethany DeMarco, who collected a team-best three RBI, the Griffs improved to 6-8 on the season. Erika Mackie conceded just one hit to the Hawks – a two-out single to sophomore Marisa Ferguson in the top of the fifth – to improve to 3-4 on the season.
Canisius struck the scoreboard in the bottom of the first with a single run on a Robin Kennery RBI single to right center before adding four more runs in the home half of the third frame to push ahead by a 5-0 count. In the fifth, the Griffs extended their lead to 11 runs after scoring six times to secure the mercy rule victory.
Sophomore Lexi Wilkerson (0-5) worked 2.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits and five walks while recording one strikeout. Coming in for the final 1.2 frames, freshman Kelsey Bird conceded six runs – two earned – on six hits. She issued a pair of walks and fanned three batters.
In game two, senior Peyton Fisher led off the contest with a single, but that would be the only base runner for the Hawks for the remainder of the afternoon. Panthers' hurler Sam aGreiner clamped down to retire the next 15 batters she faced, recording two strikeouts in the process.
The Panthers improve to 27-8 overall.
USF scored one run in the bottom of the first before it opened up a 7-0 advantage the following frame with six more tallies. Later in the contest, the Panthers would enforce the mercy rule as it boosted its lead to 9-0 with a two-run fourth inning. Morgan Litchfield enjoyed a three RBI afternoon as her three-run homer helped fuel her team's six-run inning in the second.
Hartford's Bianca Ross suffered the loss as she allowed nine runs – eight earned – on 10 hits in 4.0 innings.
The Hawks open up America East Conference play at home with a three-game weekend series against Binghamton. First pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m.
