Weekly Honors Continue for Messina, Constantin

The weekly honors continued for Central Connecticut softball players Laura Messina and Tori Constantin on Tuesday.  For the second consecutive week both players were honored by the ECAC for their performance last week.  The pair was also honored for the second straight by the Northeast Conference following a 4-0 week.  The Blue Devils have won 10 straight and are now 21-7 overall on the season.

Messina was nothing but impressive again for the Blue Devils inside the circle, en route to earning her fourth NEC Pitcher of the Week award this season and 16th of her career. She was nearly unhittable, hurling three shutouts in four complete game victories, while posting a 0.52 ERA and holding batters to a .165 average on the week. In total, the Marlton, NJ native worked 27.0 innings, striking out 33 and only walking two.

Messina is now 17-3 on the year in 21 starts inside the circle for CCSU with a 0.92 ERA. She has 19 complete games, a NCAA-leading 11 shutouts and 183 strikeouts over 144.1 innings of work. She also now has 902 strikeouts in her career and is just 98 away from 1,000.

Constantin locked up her second consecutive and third NEC Rookie of the Week award of the season after she hit .333 (4-12) and launched her fourth home run of the season to fuel the Blue Devils to four wins on the week. The freshman drove in a pair and also scored three runs as the Blue Devils ran their winning streak to 10 straight games.

Messina, Constantin and the Blue Devils will return to the diamond with a mid-week nonconference bout against intrastate rival UConn on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Storrs, CT.