Softball Rallies, but Falls Twice to Binghamton at Home Tuesday

The Central Connecticut softball team rallied late in both games of a doubleheader against Binghamton at home on Tuesday afternoon, but ended up coming up short on both occasions, falling 15-8 in game one and then 10-7 in game two. The pair of setbacks drops the Blue Devils record to 8-15-1 overall on the season, while the Bearcats improve to 14-9 with the wins. Central will be back in action next on Friday with a doubleheader at Holy Cross before opening up Northeast Conference play at home on Sunday against preseason favorite LIU Brooklyn.

The Blue Devils and Bearcats combined for 40 runs and 45 hits over the two games on a day that featured tough playing conditions with a stiff breeze blowing out to right field at the CCSU Softball Field in New Britain, CT. 21 of the 45 combined hits were for extra bases, including seven home runs. Senior Katie Schmidt led the way at the plate for CCSU, finishing the twin bill 3-for-5 with a home run, double and three RBI.

Game 1 - CCSU 8, Binghamton 15

The Bearcats plated five runs in the second, third and fourth innings to overwhelm the Blue Devils 15-8 in game one on Tuesday. Binghamton batted through the order in each inning and used a pair of home runs to build a 15-3 lead after four innings of play.

The Blue Devils would answer with a five run inning of their own in the bottom of the fifth to claw back into the game, but the Bearcats lead was too much to overcome.

Binghamton's Christi Eichner got the Bearcats on the board first with a three-run blast over the left-center field wall in the top of the second inning. They would go on to tack on two more runs in the inning on a two-RBI single by Jessica Rutherford to take a 5-0 lead.

The Bearcats extended their lead to 10-0 in the top of the third inning. A Griffin McIver double scored the first run followed by a RBI single from Gabby Bracchi before Sydney Harbaugh hit the Bearcats' second three-run home run of the game over the right field fence.

Central got a run back in the bottom half of the inning to make it 10-1 when Schmidt belted a solo shot to right field to leadoff the frame.

Binghamton answered right back with their third straight five run inning to build a 15-1 advantage. The first two runs of the inning came home on a two-RBI double by Kate Richard followed by a RBI single by Stephanie Bielec. With the bases loaded and no outs the Blue Devils turned a double play, but it forced home the fourth run of the inning before a RBI single by Rutherford drove in the final run for the Bearcats.

The Blue Devils didn't give up though and tried to chip into the deficit and made things interesting. They pushed two runs across in the bottom of the fourth with a two out rally. After loading the bases, back-to-back walks to Schmidt and Cooper plated runs and made it 15-3.

CCSU then exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 15-8, but that would be all they could muster for the final margin. Sophomore Alexis Debrosse drove in the first run with a RBI single followed by a RBI fielder's choice from classmate Tori Constantin. Sophomore Brittany Camara and Schmidt followed with back-to-back RBI singles and then freshman Kaitlin Paterson added a RBI single of her own two batters later.

Freshman Alex Casanas took the loss for the Blue Devils in game one. She drops to 3-9 overall in the circle on the season. Schmidt, Paterson and sophomore Brittany McNulla each had two hits for Central in game one.

Game 2 - CCSU 7, Binghamton 10

The Blue Devils took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the second inning, but Binghamton scored the games next 10 runs with three in the fourth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh before the Blue Devils exploded for six runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 10-7 final score.

Central got on the board first in game two after a RBI fielder's choice from Constantin in the second inning. It plated freshman Kerri Dadalski who doubled to right-center field to lead off the frame and was moved up to third after a groundout to second.

Back-to-back home runs by the Bearcats in the top of the fourth would give Binghamton the lead for good. McIver launched the first one, a two-run shot, over the right-center field wall and then Richard followed with a solo shot in almost the same exact spot to make it 3-1 Bearcats.

They then opened up the game with four runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-1 lead. A bases loaded walk to McIver brought in the first run of the inning followed by a two-RBI single from Richard. Bielec capped the scoring in the inning with a RBI fielder's choice.

Binghamton then put the game out of reach with three more runs in the top of the seventh. An Eichner double drove in the first run before McIver sent her second two-run home run of the game over the center field fence.

The Blue Devils would once again make things interesting, however, and rallied for six runs in the bottom half of the seventh to cut the deficit to 10-7. RBI doubles from senior's Hannah Cooper and Evie Rentzel made it 10-5 and then Dadalski crushed a two-run home run deep over the scoreboard in center field, but that would be as close as the Blue Devils would get.

Sophomore Emily Sargent took the loss in game two and falls to 5-6 overall on the season in the circle for Central. She struck out three. Dadalski was impressive in game two, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored as the only Blue Devil to finish with multiple hits in the night cap.

The Blue Devils will return to action next with a doubleheader at Holy Cross on Friday. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2:35 p.m.