WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford softball team had a two-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, as visiting Fairfield swept a doubleheader from the Hawks with 10-0 and 6-5 decisions. Hartford dips to 3-9 on the season, while Fairfield improves to 11-3.
GAME 1: FAIRFIELD 10, HARTFORD 0 (6)
A four-run inning in the second fueled by a three-run home run by Tahlia Brown helped Fairfield jump out to a 5-0 advantage. Following an RBI groundout from Maria Telle in the top of the fifth, Sam Merino extended the margin to 7-0 that inning with a solo shot. The Stags would tack on three more in the following inning to seal the victory.
Karisa Hughen scattered four hits and struck out five to earn the shutout victory for Fairfield, while
Julianna Kocenski fanned one batter in five innings for the Hawks.
GAME 2: FAIRFIELD 6, HARTFORD 5
Hartford mounted a comeback in game two, clawing back from a 6-0 deficit to pull within one in the bottom of the seventh. Leading off the bottom of the fifth with three-straight base hits from
Amber Mianti,
Lily Sencer and
Nicolette Barranger,
Haley Cassidy delivered a two-out, bases-clearing double to centerfield to cut the Hawks' deficit in half.
Facing a 6-3 deficit heading into their final at-bats,
Paige Fedak made it a one-run game with a double down the left field line, before Kocenski came up with a clutch, pinch-hit RBI down the right field line to close the gap to 6-5. The Hawks had a chance to tie things up with runners on the corners and two down, but Fairfield's starting pitcher Katie Kudlacik retired
Madison Hilimire for the final out of the game.
Mikayla Rubin and Kaitlin Hoffman helped Fairfield build its early six-run lead, launching back-to-back home runs in the opening frame to make it a 4-0 game. The Stags added two more runs in the top of the third, before Hartford starting pitcher
Melissa Pereira settled in. She held the Stags off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, finishing with three strikeouts.
NEXT ON TAP
A pair of midweek road doubleheaders is on the docket for Hartford, as the Hawks head to Sacred Heart on Wednesday (2:30 p.m.) and Monmouth on Thursday (1 p.m.).
