McNulla, Camara Go Yard, Softball Splits Doubleheader with Boston U
The Blue Devils will travel to LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, April 29 for a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
The Central Connecticut softball team picked up a 3-1 win in game one on Thursday, April 27 over the visiting Boston Univeristy Terriers. The Terrier's pulled away in the second game, winning 5-1 over CCSU. Junior Brittany McNulla recorded her third home run of the season in first game, and classmate Brittany Camara launched her second homer of the season in game two.
CCSU now 11-24 will travel to LIU Brooklyn in the first of its final two conference games with a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 29 in Brooklyn, NY. LIU and Central are currently tied at 4-8 in the league as playoff race continues. Boston U. moves to 18-25 on the season.
GAME ONE
Starting as catcher for the Blue Devils, McNulla kicked off Thursday night's first game with a two-run jack to center field in the bottom of the first inning. The bomb drove in junior, Brittany Camara who reached on a fielder's choice in the previous at-bat. Freshmen Sarah Ogilvie and designated player Kaleigh Edwards both collected singles following McNulla's third home run of the season.
CCSU and Boston were held scoreless in the secoond, third and fourth innings in a solid defense display from both teams. In the bottom of the fifth inning, red-shirt junior Tori Constantin led off with a hard hit double to left field, and was advanced to third on rookie Emily Cronin's bunt.
Junor Alexis Debrosse then sent Constantin home with a deep sacfrice fly ball to center field, extending Central's lead to 3-0 heading into the top of the sixth. The Terriers answered right back with a run of their own on a solo shot to left field from BU's Jilee Schanda.
Leading 3-1 in the top of the seventh, Boston began the inning with a single to center and a double to right field putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. The Blue Devils, unphased by the Terrier's momentum, cleanly fielded three consecutive hits to close out game one.
Junior pitcher Emily Sargent threw her 18th complete game of the season as she improves her overall record to 6-17 on the season.
GAME TWO
CCSU's second contest with Boston started off with another bang, this time a solo shot to right field from the lefty, Camara. The Terriers were able to knot the score at 1-1 in the top of the third off of an RBI single in the right center gap.
BU led off the top of the third inning with double to left center from Rachel Levine, who eventually found her way around the base path to score on an RBI single to the right side of the diamond, taking the 2-1 lead.
The Terrier's three run fourth inning, sparked by a pair of doubles to left-center, put BU ahead 4-1. The Blue Devils were robbed of several extra-base hits, as they saw just three hits touch the ground. Rookie Alicia Bertolino and McNulla both connected on singles for CCSU in game two.
Boston tacked on another run in the top of the sixth inning on a sac fly to center field, sealing the 5-1 win. Freshman Sarah Ogilvie (2-4) made her first appearance at the mound since she went six deep at Manhattan in a 5-2 win on April 15. Ogilvie completed her second full contest on year.
Following LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, CCSU will welcome Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday, April 30 to CCSU Softball Field in New Britain, CT for its final regular season games of the 2017 season. Sunday's doubleheader is slated for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. The top four teams in the league will compete in the 2017 Northeast Conference Softball Tournament on May 11-13.