The University of New Haven softball team continues their dominant season by winning game one 3-0 and game two 7-5 against Pace University winning. They improve their record to 23-5 for the season and 18-4 in conference play. They have won 17 of their last 18 games and a big reason for that is because of junior Ava Fitzmaurice’s play.

It was a beautiful day at the New Haven softball field with not a cloud in the sky and the Chargers brought the excitement. Game one was a pitching duel between Fitzmaurice and Maxibel Garcia for the Pace Setters. Both pitchers did not give up a run until Fitzmaurice hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead and threw a complete-game shutout, with the Chargers winning 3-0. The two other runs came from senior Melissa Bike, who knocked in Ellie Frederick with a base hit. In the sixth inning, Ashley Veisz earned the RBI when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Game two felt like it was going to be a pitching duel like game one. There were no runs scored again through the first two and a half innings. The Chargers got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning. This time, the Setters scored their first run of the day tying things up at one in the top of the fourth inning. Junior Mia Iodice was on the mound for game two of the doubleheader and was cruising for four innings, only allowing one unearned run. The Chargers took the lead right back in the bottom of the fourth when the Chargers bats put together four straight hits. The first was a double from Jovanna Hillman then a single from Frederick with the third hit driving in a run, a single from Bike. Freshman Hailey Laforte followed that up with another double driving in two more runs making it 4-1.

It seemed like that would be enough runs for Iodice but after loading the bases with two outs, freshman Kaylani Miller hit a grand slam on the first pitch that absolutely stunned and silenced the crowd; the New Haven bench gave the setters the 5-4 lead. The silence would only last for a short period of time as the Chargers stormed back capitalizing on two errors and taking the lead right back 6-5. The Chargers would add one more insurance run in the sixth on a home run from shortstop Mya Case, making it 7-5. The Chargers called on Fitzmaurice to record the final six outs of the game and secure the doubleheader sweep.

New Haven will look to finish their regular season on a high note Sunday afternoon when the two meet again for another doubleheader.