NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Sacred Heart University softball team cruised to a pair of wins to open the Bulldog Invitational, hosted by Yale on Friday, Mar. 7, at 5K Corral Field in New Haven, Conn. The Pioneers first defeated Maine by a 7-0 final score before handing Central Connecticut State a 10-2 loss in six innings.
Team Records
Sacred Heart (5-7)
Maine (2-12)
CCSU (2-10)
Game 1: SHU 7, Maine 0
Pitchers:
Sam Kowalski (SHU) - (W, 7.0 innings pitched, 0 earned runs, 10 strikeouts, 3-3 record)
Madison Simmerman (Maine) - (L, 4.2 innings pitched, 4 earned runs, 1 strikeout, 1-5 record)
Ava Zettlemoyer (Maine) - (2.1 innings pitched, 2 earned runs, 3 strikeouts)
SHU Top Performers:
Savannah Moore – 2-3, 3 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 home runs
Sam Kowalski – 2-3, 1 RBI
Of Note:
Following three scoreless innings to open the opening game, the Pioneers were the first team to break onto the scoreboard in the top of the fourth.
Savannah Moore broke the tie with a solo homer to straight center. Moore led off the frame by blasting her second homer of the year.
SHU added four more runs in the top of the fifth to pull away.
Morgan Teodosio and
Nicole Henke both tallied RBIs in the inning, with Teodosio's coming on a ground out and Henke's coming on a single to center.
Moore made it a 5-0 game with her second home run of the morning, sending a two-run shot to left.
The Pioneers added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings to build a 7-0 advantage by the last half inning.
Catherine Calzada plated the run in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk, her first career RBI, while
Sam Kowalski brought in the run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to right field.
With the way Kowalski was throwing, she did not need as much offensive help as she got. The junior tossed her first complete-game shutout of the season, fanning a season-high 10 batters to improve to 3-3 on the season.
Game 2: SHU 10, CCSU 2 (6 Inn.)
Pitchers:
Emily Heath (SHU) - (W, 6.0 innings pitched, 2 earned runs, 2 strikeouts, 1-3 record)
Alina Varga (CCSU) - (L, 5.1 innings pitched, 8 earned runs, 6 strikeouts, 1-5 record)
Top Performers:
Cierra Bender – 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 run
Alexa Barbera – 1-1, 1 RBI, 1 run, 1 double
Of Note:
The Blue Devils opened the scoring in game two in the top of the second on a walk and a double to make it a 1-0 game.
SHU answered in the home half of the inning with a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead. Following a leadoff walk from
Cierra Bender,
Nicole Henke stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run homer to left field, her second of the season.
A scoreless third inning followed before the Pioneers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded and one out,
Carly Koltko plated two runners with a single to right to send SHU into the fifth up 4-1.
The Pios' lead ballooned to 8-2 in the bottom of the fifth. After CCSU scored a run in the top of the frame, SHU sent nine batters to the plate to build the commanding advantage.
Elle Leckrone and Bender both had RBI singles, while
Charlene Davis highlighted the frame with a two-run double to left.
Sacred Heart iced its second win of the day in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs. The Pioneers started off the inning with a single and a walk before
Alexa Barbera tallied a one-out, one-run double to make it a 9-2 game. The hit and RBI are both the first of Barbera's career. The game ended on a throwing error by the CCSU first baseman, as the Pios earned the run-rule victory, 10-2.
In the circle,
Emily Heath threw all 6.0 innings for SHU. The junior struck out two batters and allowed just five hits on her way to her first win of the season.
Up Next
Sacred Heart is back in action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. when it battles CCSU again at Yale's 5K Corral Field.
