PHOTO GALLERY

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – In its 2015 home finale, the University of Hartford softball team scored a doubleheader split with the Marist Red Foxes at the Hartford Softball Field on Wednesday afternoon. In the opening game, Hartford overcame deficits in the seventh and 10th innings to grind out the 6-5, extra-inning victory before suffering a 12-2 setback in the afternoon's second contest.

The Hawks move to 3-35 on the season while the Red Foxes shift to 19-23 overall.

Sophomore Danielle DeMarco, who registered the game-tying RBI for the Hawks in the opening game, compiled four RBI on the afternoon in a 4-for-7 effort that included her second home run of the season. Senior Peyton Fisher and freshman Jamie Soles also combined for three hits. Combining for four home runs, including three in the nightcap, the Red Foxes were led by Krysten Van Natta's five RBI.

Hartford continues mid-week action with a doubleheader at Quinnipiac on Thursday. First pitch from Hamden is scheduled for 2 p.m.

GAME ONE:
In the afternoon's first game, Hartford was down to its final at-bats and trailed Marist, 5-4, in the bottom of the seventh. Battling back to force extra innings, the Hawks again accomplished the feat and overcame another one-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning to secure the opening game victory in come-from-behind fashion.

Hurling the final 4.1 innings, junior Elizabeth Batsinelas earned her first career win, recording three strikeouts in the process.

Two huge offensive plays by freshman Jamie Soles in the bottom of the 10th helped set the scene for Fried's game-winning knock in the opening game. Leading off the inning with a perfect laid bunt single that pushed Jenice Aloyo, who was placed on second to start the stanza, to third, the shortstop made it two runners in scoring position after swiping second base.

With her team down to its final out, Fried provided the big hit for the Hawks, as her bases-clearing knock through the middle of the infield erased a one-run deficit and lifted the Hawks to the 10th-inning, walk-off victory.

Marist had previously broken open a 5-5 deadlock that stretched through two extra frames in the top half of the 10th thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Lalli followed by a successful suicide squeeze off Barrera's bat. Starting the inning on second base, Korak moved 60-feet on each play to push the go-ahead run across the plate for the Red Foxes.

To reach extra innings, the Hawks had to battle from behind as they faced a 5-4 disadvantage heading in to their final at-bats. Peyton Fisher scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh after leading off the bats with a rip down the left field line. Advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt from Aloyo, the Hawks' right fielder knotted up the score at 5-5 on Danielle DeMarco's sacrifice fly.

Prior to that, Hartford faced an early 2-0 deficit as Marist got on the board in the bottom of the second on a long ball from Korak before it plated another run in the stanza on an error in the Hawks' infield. DeMarco quickly erased her team's deficit, though, muscling out a three-run home run to put her team up by one run through three innings. Hartford went on to extend its lead to a pair of runs in its next at-bats thanks to back-to-back, inning-opening doubles from Fried and senior Margaret Betz.

The Hawks held on to that two-run advantage until the top part of the sixth. Using one hit and an error, Marist plated two runs in the stanza. A free pass issued to Duddy with the bases loaded brought in the game-tying run and made it a 4-4 contest before Van Natta put the lead back in the Red Foxes' hands in the next at-bat on a single to left field.

Oberdorf went the distance for the Red Foxes inside of the circle, compiling a game-best seven strikeouts. Six of the seven runs she conceded were earned.  

GAME TWO:
Maureen Duddy, Krysten Van Natta and College McWilliams each went yard over the first two innings as the Red Foxes led, 7-0, after two and never looked back in the afternoon's second game.

Marist opened the afternoon's second game with a bang, with Duddy leading off the contest with a solo shot to quickly put the Red Foxes on the board before Rebecca Freeman, who tripled with one out, made it a 2-0 lead on a Reilly RBI single. Hartford managed to strike out Gabrielle Kelliher for the second out, but one swing of the bat by Colleen McWilliams pushed the Red Foxes lead to 4-0 before the end of the frame.

In the second, Van Natta extended her team's advantage to 7-0 and collected three RBI on her first home run of the contest with one out recorded in the stanza. The Hawks managed to close in on that seven run deficit in the home half of the that frame as a two-bagger laced down the left field line by Margaret Betz plated Jackie Kelly, who led off the bats with a base hit to second field.

But Marist continued to add to its lead as it used a two-run third inning to go up, 9-1. Hartford would be held off the scoreboard for the next two innings, until back-to-back two-out singles by Marisa Ferguson and Fisher followed by a walk from Aloyo loaded up the bases. Soles came through again and kept the Hawks alive, using an outfield single to plate Ferguson and close the gap to seven runs.

The Red Foxes went on to use three runs and three errors in the top half of the seventh as the visiting squad's advantage ballooned to 12-2, the eventual final.

Bianca Ross (0-6) suffered the loss after going 0.2 innings for the Hawks. She finished with a strikeout. Janine Lalli, who had a pair of strikeouts, improved to 3-5 with the win for Marist.