On Sunday, the New Haven softball team took on the Southern New Hampshire Penmen (SNHU) for their second doubleheader in as many days. The Chargers bounced back after a shutout loss in game one with a shutout win in game two to split the doubleheader against a strong Northeast-10 (NE-10) opponent.
Right-handed pitcher Breanna Kinney took the ball for the Chargers in game one. Her record on the season dropped to 3-12 as she took the loss after throwing five and two thirds innings in which she allowed five runs on eight hits and one walk.
Neither team was able to break the scoreless tie in the early innings until SNHU first baseman Mackenzie Bruggeman lined a long two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Penmen a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
Two of New Haven’s three hits in game one came in the bottom of the fourth from second baseman Kylie Thorpe and designated hitter Lucia Ceccarelli, but were stranded after a strikeout ended the threat and kept the Chargers off the board.
SNHU added three big insurance runs in the top of the sixth to seal the game and take a 5-0 lead. Second baseman Alyssa DiMauro lined a single up the middle to for the inning’s first run before center fielder Peyton Feldman put the game out of reach for the Chargers with a two-run single into left field.
New Haven managed just one baserunner in the final two innings after catcher Brianna Trueman was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the sixth. They were retired in order in the seventh as they dropped game one with a 5-0 loss to stretch their losing streak to five games.
The Chargers got back into the win column in game two as they rode a dominant pitching performance by right-handed pitcher Viana McKinley, who went six innings and allowed just two hits and two walks and struck out one.
Center fielder Bella Chenet started off game two for New Haven with a leadoff double in the bottom of the first with a double into left-center field and moved to third base on a groundout from Ceccarelli. First baseman Meg Anderson got the team on the board with a single into left field that scored Chenet. Right fielder Olivia Roberto followed with a two-out walk but was stranded as a flyout ended the inning and left two runners on base.
McKinley retired the side in order in the top of the second and third innings as the Chargers held on to their one-run lead. She worked around trouble in the fourth as she got designated hitter Jordan Resatar to ground out to shortstop Rachel Krogman to strand runners on second and third.
New Haven added three huge insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth to break the game open and take a 4-0 lead. Three straight singles from Ceccarelli, Thorpe and Trueman brought the first run of the inning across, followed by a safety squeeze from Anderson that scored Thorpe.
Sophia Piccirilli came on to pinch run for Anderson and stole second to put two runners in scoring position to put the game way out of reach for the Penmen. Roberto lined a single into left field to score Trueman and make it a four-run game, but Piccirilli was stranded at third after a strikeout and a popout ended the inning.
McKinley worked around two walks in the top of the sixth and kept SNHU off the board to keep New Haven’s lead at four.
Right-handed pitcher Skylar Griffin came on in relief to get the last three outs to seal the split of the doubleheader. She allowed just one hit on a single by DiMauro and induced a groundout and popout to end the game and give the Chargers a strong 4-0 win.
The Chargers fifth win of the season came in an all-around team win as they enter the final stretch of the regular season with 12 games remaining on their schedule. The team will face off against non-conference opponent Post University on Wednesday and Pace University in a NE-10 matchup on the road in Pleasantville, N.Y. on Friday. For more information, please visit NewHavenChargers.com.
