Softball Sweeps on Saturday at USF Tournament
The Blue Devils topped Maine (5-3) and Colgate (9-5) on Saturday in Clearwater, FL.
The Central Connecticut softball team picked up a pair of victories on Saturday at the USF Michele Smith Invitational in Clearwater, FL. The Blue Devils, who dropped their first two games of the season yesterday, bounced back and topped Maine and Colgate today. Central took down Maine this morning 5-3 and then completed the sweep with a 9-5 victory against Colgate this afternoon. With the wins the Blue Devils improve to 8-2 overall on the season.
Game #1 vs. Maine
In the morning bout against the Maine Black Bears (11-12), senior pitcher Laura Messina twirled a complete game and struck out 13 Maine batters. The complete game is the 101st of Messina's career. She went the distance allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits.
The Blue Devils' offense also came around against the Black Bears today. After only recording 10 hits over two games yesterday, CCSU exploded for 12 hits against Maine, including three from junior Eileen Purcell.
Central was first to crack the scoreboard with a run in the top of the second inning. Purcell registered her first hit of the day with a single through the left side and then came all the way around to score after Maine's left fielder misplayed a hot-shot single by junior Evie Rentzel.
The Blue Devils tacked on three more runs to extend their lead to 4-0 in the top half of the next inning. With the bases loaded after three consecutive singles by CCSU, Purcell ripped a single to center to plate two. Junior Hannah Cooper also followed with another single up the middle, the fifth of the inning, to bring home the third run.
The Black Bears would get one back in the bottom of the fourth after a sacrifice fly from Jessica Burk. However, the Blue Devils responded in the next half inning with an RBI double from Cooper off the left-center field wall. The hit and RBI were both her second of the game.
Maine cut the CCSU lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of unearned runs off Messina. A RBI double from Felicia Lennon squeezed in between a pair of Blue Devils errors brought the score to 5-3.
Messina would settle in, however, and retire six of the next seven Maine batters, including three via the strike out, to secure the victory. With the win, Messina now improvers her record in the circle to 5-1 on the season.
Four Blue Devils logged a multi-hit game, led by three from Purcell. Cooper and seniors Kat Malcolm and Ashley Black both also had two hits apiece. Purcell and Cooper both drove in a pair.
Game #2 vs. Colgate
A three-run home run by senior Kat Malcolm in the bottom of the fourth inning proved to be the deciding factor, as the Blue Devils topped Colgate 9-5 in the second game on Saturday.
Colgate (3-4) jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning off CCSU starter, freshman Emily Sargent. Two hits and then a pair of CCSU errors allowed the trio of Raiders to cross the plate.
Central would respond and in a big way in its first trip to the plate in the bottom half of the inning. The Blue Devils loaded the bases to bring up junior Evie Rentzel with one out. She slapped a single through the left side to to get two back for CCSU. A wild pitch by Colgate's starting pitcher, Megan Carnase, tied the score at 3-3 and then junior Mackenzie Keyes smacked an RBI single through the right side to give the Blue Devils the lead, 4-3.
Colgate was the next team to strike in the top of the fourth with one run to tie the game at 4-4. A RBI single to center from Brigit Ieuter brought home Megan Carnase to knot the score. The Raiders would then take the lead, 5-4, in the top of the next inning after a double off the bat of Holly Geranen, bringing in Tara Grennan who singled earlier in the inning.
In the bottom half, the Blue Devils would answer the threat. A costly Colgate error with two outs allowed junior Katie Schmidt to score and re-tie the game 5-5. It also extended the inning, bringing up Malcolm with runners on first and third. Malcolm would make the Raiders pay as she launched her second home run of the season over the right-center field wall to give the Blue Devils the lead for good, 8-5.
Senior Laura Messina came on in relief for Sargent in the top of the fifth and pitched the final three innings to record her second save of the season. Messina faced the minimum (9) over the three innings of work and struck out six to preserve the 9-5 victory for CCSU.
Sargent pitched the first four innings and picked up the win to improve to 3-1 in her rookie season. She allowed five runs (three earned) on 10 hits and a pair of walks. She also struck out two.
Malcolm paced the offense for the Blue Devils, finishing 2-for-4 with the three run shot. Rentzel also had a pair of hits and two RBI's, going 2-for-3 in the game.
The Blue Devils will return to action as they complete competition at the USF Michele Smith Invitational tomorrow with a single game against Army at 11:15 a.m. The game can be followed via live stats here.