Messina, Rentzel Power Blue Devils Over the Mount

The Central Connecticut softball team improved to 21-7 overall and a perfect 8-0 in Northeast Conference play with a pair of victories on the road at Mount St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon in Emmitsburg, MD. The Blue Devils topped the Mountaineers 2-0 and 12-2 to run their winning streak to 10-straight games on the season. Senior Laura Messina continued to dominate in the circle, powering the Blue Devils to two more wins with two complete game victories in the circle.

Game #1: CCSU 2, MSM 0

Central got on the scoreboard first in game one with a run in the top of the fourth inning. Senior Kat Malcolm singled to lead off the inning and came around to score on a RBI double from junior Evie Rentzel.

The Blue Devils padded their 1-0 lead with another run in the top half of the next inning. Junior Mackenzie Keyes led off the inning with a single and then advanced all the way to third following a sacrifice bunt and Mount error off the bat of junior Katie Schmidt. Keyes would then come around to score on a RBI fielder's choice from freshman Brittany Camara to give CCSU a 2-0 advantage.

The lead would be all the senior ace, Lara Messina, would need as she pitched her fifth-straight complete game and third of the weekend. Messina twirled a two hit shutout, increasing her consecutive scoreless innings streak to 39-straight innings, and struck out seven Mount batters in the game. Messina did not allow a single Mount St. Mary's batter to touch second base in the contest.

Messina faced just 22 MSM batters, one over the minimum, in what could be her most dominate performance on the season. She improved her record to 16-3 overall in the circle with the victory in game one.

Senior Ashley Black and Keyes both logged multi-hit games to pace the CCSU offense. Black finished 2-for-4 and Keyes was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Game #2: CCSU 12, MSM 2

The Blue Devils exploded for 12 runs on 10 hits in game two to complete the NEC doubleheader sweep of the Mountaineers on Sunday. Central plated three runs in the second inning, five in the fifth inning and four in the sixth inning to earn a 12-2 six inning mercy rule victory.

In the second inning, freshman Tori Constantin singled and junior Evie Rentzel was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with one out. Junior Mackenzie Keyes then singled and a Mount throwing error on the hit allowed Constantin and Rentzel to both come around and score on the miscue. Junior Katie Schmidt followed two batters later and drove in Keyes to give CCSU an early 3-0 advantage.

The Mount would answer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Blue Devil lead to just one, 3-2. Jessica Greenwald and Megan Baker singled to start the inning and they both would eventually come around to score on a two-RBI double from Niki Gonzalez. The runs snapped Messina's consecutive scoreless innings streak at 41.

The Blue Devils would answer, however, and in a big way. Central pushed across five runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 8-2 lead and put the game out of reach. With the bases loaded, freshman Tori Constantin wore a hit by pitch to bring home senior Ashley Black for the first run. Rentzel then delivered the knock out blow to the Mountaineers with a grand slam over the left field wall. The home run was the third of the season for Rentzel and third in the last six games.

Central would add four more runs in the top of the sixth inning to guarantee the victory. Freshman Brittany Camara drove in the first run with a single to bring home Schmidt who walked earlier in the inning. Senior Kat Malcolm would then follow with a two-RBI double before coming around score on a RBI single off the bat of junior Eillen Purcell to complete the scoring.

With the 12-2 advantage and 10-run mercy rule in effect, Messina retired the Mount in order in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game and complete the NEC sweep of the Mountaineers. Messina spun the full six frames to log her sixth-straight complete game. She surrendered two runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out 10 in game two.

Messina is now 17-3 (8-0 NEC) in the circle on the season with a minuscule 0.92 ERA. She has 183 strikeouts in 144.1 innings pitched with 19 complete games and 11 shutouts. The Marlton, NJ product surpassed 900 career strikeouts in game two and now has 902 punch outs in her tenure, just 98 away from 1,000.

Black and Schmidt recorded multi-hit games in the second game for the Blue Devils. Black finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Schmidt notched a perfect 2-for-2 game with a RBI and run scored. Rentzel slugged the grand slam to drive in four in the nightcap, totaling five RBI's on the day over the pair of games.

The Central softball team will return to action with a non-conference tilt against the UConn Huskies in Storrs, CT on Wednesday, April 15 before hosting Bryant in NEC doubleheader action on Sunday, April 19.