BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The University of New Haven softball team dropped a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader at Le Moyne College Thursday afternoon in Syracuse. The Dolphins took the opening game 5-4 in eight innings after a walk-off homerun drove in two runs. The Chargers also lost the second game of the doubleheader by one run, 4-3. The Chargers dropped to 20-16 overall and 10-10 in the Northeast-10 Conference with the two losses. The Dolphins improved to 17-23 overall and 11-9 in conference play.

Game One
New Haven was first on the scoreboard in the opening game Thursday. Lindsey Couturier (Dighton, Mass./Dighton Rehoboth Regional) hit a sacrifice fly to center field and scored Shannon Angehr (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue ) in the top of the first inning. UNH held on to the lead until the bottom of the second inning. Le Moyne scored two runs in the inning off two hits and one UNH error. The Dolphins held the lead until the top of the fourth inning. Lucy Francisco (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence ) stepped to the plate and evened the score at 2-2 with a one-run lead-off homerun over the left field fence.

The game was scoreless through the final three innings and headed to extra innings. In the top of the eighth inning, the Chargers scored two runs off one hit and three Le Moyne errors. Brandy Dianno (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) and Amy Nepi (New Castle, Del./St. Elizabeth ) scored off errors and gave UNH a 4-2 lead headed into the bottom half of the eighth. The Dolphins registered a pair of hits in the bottom of the eighth, including the game-winning walkoff two-RBI homerun with one out.

Alana Wesche (Oxford, Conn./Naugatuck) suffered the loss for UNH. She pitched the complete game and gave up seven hits, while striking out three. Francisco led UNH at the plate with one hit in three at-bats.

Game Two
In the opening game on Thursday, Lucy Francisco (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence ) opened scoring for New Haven in the top of the first inning. Shannon Angehr (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue ) earned a lead-off walk and then Francisco stepped to the plate to hit her second homerun of the day over the fence in right center. The Chargers took an early 2-0 lead and held the lead until the bottom of the third inning when Le Moyne connected on its own two-run homerun in left field. 

After a scoreless fourth inning, Lindsey Couturier (Dighton, Mass./Dighton Rehoboth Regional) drove in the Chargers go-ahead third run in the top of the fifth inning with a double to left field. Angehr scored the go-ahead third run for the Chargers. The UNH lead didn't last long as Le Moyne scored the game-tying run off an error in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the score tied at 3-3, the sixth and top of the seventh inning were again scoreless. In the bottom of the seventh, the Dolphins strung together three-straight hits and the game-winning run was scored off a single down the right field line.

Angehr went 1-for-3 with two runs, while Francisco went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run. Couturier and Brooke Fisher (Erial, N.J./Camden Catholic) each went 2-for-3 at the plate. Kelsey Malloy (Clarksburg, Mass./Drury) suffered the loss for the Chargers on the mound in the final three 1/3 innings pitched.

New Haven returns to action in another Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader on Saturday, April 14 against Merrimack College. Game time at the UNH Softball Field is set for 12 p.m. For complete coverage, stay posted to www.NewHavenChargers.com.