Brown, Messina Earn NEC Honors
Tessa Brown and Laura Messina earned weekly honors from the NEC on Monday.
Sophomore catcher Tessa Brown was named Northeast Conference Co-Player of the Week and freshman Laura Messina earned NEC Pitcher and Rookie of the Week Honors for her performance last week. The Blue Devils are 24-14 this season and 6-4 in NEC play.
Brown knocked in 10 runs to help the Blue Devils sweep a pair of NEC doubleheaders and finish the week with a 4-2 record. Brown finished the week with seven hits in 20 at bats, doubling two times and hitting two home runs. Her 15 total bases give her a .750 slugging percentage for the week to go along with a .350 batting average and .381 on base percentage.
Brown's first home run of the week was a three-run shot against Hofstra. She followed up this performance by getting two hits and driving in a run in game one against Sacred Heart, leading the Blue Devils to a 2-0 win. In game two against the Pioneers, Brown recorded a pair of hits and two more RBI. She capped off the week with a 2-for-3, four RBI game against Wagner as Central picked up a pair of victories. Brown's power at the plate helped the Blue Devils improve to 6-4 in NEC play, catapulting them from 10th place to fourth in the league standings.
Messina started all four conference games for the Blue Devils, earning four victories with a 0.72 ERA. She went the distance in three of the four games and allowed just two earned runs over 25.0 innings. On the week she allowed just 11 hits and five walks, while striking out 19 batters.
Messina's four victories set a new CCSU single-season record for wins with 19. The previous record of 14 was set in 1990.
In her first start Messina blanked Sacred Heart for seven innings for her sixth shutout of the season as she helped the Blue Devils to a 2-0 win. She carried a no-hitter for 6.2 innings and allowed just a single hit in the game. On the day, she struck out seven and walked only two batters as Central earned the sweep over the defending champion Pioneers.
Against Wagner, she pitched her second shutout in an 8-0 game one victory. In that game she allowed just two hits and a walk, while striking out six. In game two, Messina again went the distance pitching seven innings, allowing five hits, one run, two walks and striking out six as the Blue Devils earned a 2-1 victory and the sweep over the Seahawks.
The Blue Devils return to action later this week with an NEC doubleheader against LIU Brooklyn on Friday and a doubleheader against Monmouth on Sunday. Both doubleheaders will be played at the CCSU Softball Field.