Softball Falls Twice on Day Two of Felsburg Tournament

The Central Connecticut softball team only had five hits over two games and was no-hit by Florida International in its second game on Saturday as the Blue Devils fell 3-2 to Siena and 8-0 in six innings to FIU in the second day of action at the Felsburg Invitational Tournament. The losses drop the Blue Devils to 1-4 overall on the season and 0-4 in the Felsburg Tournament.

Game #1 vs. Siena

The Blue Devils came up just short in a 3-2 loss to the Siena Saints in the first game of a split doubleheader on Saturday. The win improves Siena to 5-3 overall on the season.

Trailing 3-0 heading into the seventh inning, the Blue Devils mounted a comeback pushing across a pair of runs, one on a Alexis Debrosse RBI single and one on a Kaitlin Paterson single to make it 3-2. With Paterson and Debrosse on second and third, senior Eileen Purcell hit a grounder to short, but the Saints cut down Debrosse at the plate for the second out of inning to hold onto the lead.

Classmate Evie Rentzel followed with a walk to load the bases and put the go-ahead run on second, but Siena's starting pitcher Lauren Butts escaped the jam with a strikeout for the victory.

The Saints got on the board first in the second inning with a pair of runs off the bat of Sammy Smaldone. Smaldone laced a two-out double down the left field line to plate two and give Siena an early 2-0 edge.

A lead off single to start the top of the third inning by Siena eventually resulted in a RBI groundout by the Saints' Alyssa Lancaster to push their lead to 3-0. The lead would be exactly what Siena needed to hold on for the eventual 3-2 victory.

The Blue Devils logged five hits in game one against Siena. Senior Katie Schmidt, sophomore Brittany McNulla, Debrosse, Paterson and Rentzel all had singles for Central in the setback.

Freshman Alex Casañas and Sophomore Emily Sargent split the game for the Blue Devils in the circle, pitching 3.0 innings each. Casañas was dealt the loss and drops to 0-2 on the season after surrendering three runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks with one strikeout. Sargent came on in relief and didn't allow a run while giving up two hits and two walks. She struck out two.

Game #2 vs Florida International

The Blue Devils were no-hit as they dropped an 8-0 decision in six innings to Florida International in their second game on Saturday. The win improves FIU's record to 10-4 on the year.

FIU's Megan Kugelmann stymied the Blue Devils to record the victory for the Panthers in the circle, twirling 6.0 innings of no-hit softball. She posted six strikeouts in the outing and the lone blemish preventing a perfect game came in the top of the sixth inning when the Panther's committed an error to open the frame. She improves to 2-0 on the season with the win.

The Panthers scored one run in the first, four in the fifth and three in the sixth to record the 8-0 victory. With runners on the corners, FIU got on the scoreboard in the first inning as Jackie Schoff pranced home after the Blue Devils threw down to second and got Stephanie Texiera attempting to steal second.

Freshman Alex Casañas held the Panthers in check for the 2.1 innings of work that she was in the game. She didn't allow another run and finished pitching 3.1 innings while allowing five hits, but suffered the loss to fall to 0-3 on the season.

Florida International opened things up in the fifth and sixth combining to score seven runs over the two frames. The knockout blow came in the fifth as FIU's A.J. Belans two-out single down the left field line scored two to push the Panthers lead to 5-1 after five innings of play.

Stephanie Texiera singled home two runs in the sixth inning and then Gabby Spallone shortened the game via the mercy rule with a RBI groundout to give the Panthers the 8-0 win.

The Blue Devils will be back in action on Sunday for two more games on the third and final day of the Felsberg Invitational Tournament. They will play a doubleheader against Delaware with the first game at 10 a.m. and the second at 3 p.m.