WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Amidst an eight-game home stretch, the University of Hartford softball team  dropped a doubleheader to Yale on Wednesday afternoon. The Bulldogs (7-12) spoiled the Hawks' game one, comeback bid and took an 8-6 victory to start the day before coming away with a 5-1 win in the nightcap, which was a shortened game due to lack of daylight. Hartford dips to 2-27 on the season with the losses.

Sophomore Danielle DeMarco paced the Hawks in the doubleheader with two hits, including a double, and a pair of RBI while seniors Margaret Betz and Jackie Kelly also enjoyed multiple hit days. Betz's bases-clearing triple in the afternoon's first game capped a Hartford rally that saw the squad erase a three-run deficit and take a 4-3 lead over its instate foe.

The homestand continues for the Hawks this weekend as they return to action with a three-game America East Conference series against Stony Brook. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 12 noon.

GAME ONE:
After battling back from a three run deficit to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth, Hartford saw its comeback spoiled in the opening game. One swing of the bat by Camille Weisenbach sent her first home run of the season over the right field wall to tie up the game in the top of the fifth before the Bulldogs plated two more runs in the sixth to steal the game.

The go-ahead runs were provided by Hannah Brennan. Doubling in the first two runs of the game in the top of the first, the designated player recorded two more RBI after dropping a two-out, bases-clearing single through the middle of the infield.

In its final at-bats, Hartford had an opportunity to cut into Yale's lead, but was unable to capitalize on a leadoff single off the bat of Elizabeth Newkirk. The rookie got as far as second base thanks to a sacrifice bunt off the barrel of senior Jenice Aloyo before Yale ace Francesca Casalino clamped down to strike out the final two Hawks she faced. 

The Hawks enjoyed a big fourth inning that saw the squad wipe away a 3-0 deficit and take a one-run advantage over the Bulldogs. Three hits and an error aided the Hawks' comeback, which was capped by a two-run triple by Margaret Betz.  Junior Sawyer Fried got the inning going by opening the frame with a walk before freshman Jamie Soles laid down a bunt single to make it runners on first and second.

Jackie Kelly, a senior, put Hartford's first run on the scoreboard on a single down the middle of the infield that allowed Fried to wheel home from second base. With runners on the corners, the second tally came in on the next at-bat, as Soles was pushed home on a Danielle DeMarco sacrifice fly. A fielding error by Yale's third baseman kept the inning going and put runners on first and second, setting the scene for Betz's bases clearing triple.

Casalino recorded nine strikeouts en route to her fifth win of the year. For the Hawks, Lexi Wilkerson took the loss after coming in the contest in the top of the sixth with the Hawks holding on to a 4-3 edge. She struck out two, but allowed Yale's go-ahead runs in the top of the sixth.

GAME TWO:
The second game of the afternoon started out as a defensive duel, with each team trading zeroes on the scoreboard through the first three innings. Yale was the first team to break open the scoreless game, as Brennan, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, ended up scoring on a passed ball to give her team the slight edge.

Hartford was quick to retaliate, though, as it plated a run of its own in the next at-bats. Jamie Soles' patience at the plate paid off, as she worked a lead-off walk off of Bulldogs' hurdler Efflandt. With a screamer down the left field line, DeMarco drove-in Soles from first in the next at-bat, making a 1-1 ball game with her first RBI of the afternoon.

In the top of the fifth, a pair of errors haunted the Hawks, as the Bulldogs exploded for four runs. Brennan, who combined to bat 3-for-6 on the afternoon, recorded the frame's first RBI on a single to right center field, allowing Allison Skinner to score after reaching on a fielding error. Laina Do went on to plate two runs on a bases-clearing single before Sydney Ginsberg wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single to right field.

After five full innings, the game was called due to darkness.

Wilkerson suffered the loss in the final game after allowing four runs – two earned – in the final 1.2 innings. She finished with one strikeout after taking over the duties for freshman Kelsey Bird, who conceded one earned run in 3.1 frames. Striking out three batters, Lindsay Efflandt improved to 2-8.