BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The nationally ranked No. 24 University of New Haven softball team split a pair of games with Southern Connecticut State University Thursday afternoon. The Chargers won the opening game with a walk-off suicide squeeze in the seventh inning for a 1-0 victory. In the nightcap, the Owls won 4-3 after jumping out to an early 4-1 lead.

The Chargers moved to 27-11 overall and with only game one counting as a Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division game, UNH improved to 9-5 in divisional play. SCSU moved to 24-15 overall and 10-3 in divisional play.

Game One
Behind outstanding pitching from Micah Stonesifer (Archer City, Texas/Archer City / Vernon College), the Chargers and Owls played scoreless through six innings. The Chargers left seven runners on base, including bases loaded in the second, through the first six innings. Southern Connecticut State stranded six runners on base, including two in the first and fifth innings.

In the top of the seventh, the Owls opened by putting the go-ahead run on second base with a single and sacrifice bunt. After taking out the leadoff runner with a force out, Lindsey Couturier (Dighton, Mass./Dighton Rehoboth Regional) grabbed a grounder at third base and stepped on the bag for the third out of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, UNH's Brittany Scott (Buena, N.J./Buena Regional) led off with a double to right center. Brandy Dianno (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) then put down a bunt single and the Chargers had runners on the corners with no outs. Christina Gelardi (Derby, Conn./Derby) then stepped into the batter’s box and laid down the game-winning suicide squeeze as pinch runner Meghan Chamoff (Roslyn Heights, N.Y./Herricks) crossed the plate.

Stonesifer allowed just two hits, while fanning three and walking five batters. She won her 11th game of the year and moved to 11-5 overall.

Dianno and Lucy Francisco (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence ) led the Chargers at the plate, going 2-for-3. Keri Tricinelli (Brick, N.J./Monsignor Donovan), Brooke Fisher (Erial, N.J./Camden Catholic) and Scott each added one hit in the opening game.

Game Two
Southern Connecticut State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a two-out RBI double to left field. The In the bottom of the first and top of the second, each team retired the side. The Chargers would string together a walk, double and error to bring Brittany Scott (Buena, N.J./Buena Regional) across as the game-tying run.

Scoring went quiet for another inning before SCSU took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth. Stacy Pouliot hit a two-out double to right center and scored the go-ahead run for the Owls. New Haven left one runner on base in the bottom of the fourth and Southern Connecticut State capitalized in the top of the fifth inning.

SCSU scored another two runs off one hit and one UNH error to take a 4-1 lead. Both runs were again scored with two outs by the Owls.

New Haven closed the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth off a solo homerun over the left field fence from Sadie Redman (Bangor, Maine/Bangor). In the sixth, the Chargers retired three of four batters and went into the bottom half of the inning trailing by two. In the bottom of the sixth, UNH scored one run off two hits and two SCSU errors for bring the game back within one run. Jess Spivey (Holland, Pa./Council Rock) scored the Chargers third run off a throwing error by the third baseman.

The Owls loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning, but the Chargers would hold strong and get a third out without a runner crossing the plate. New Haven was then retired in order in the bottom of the seventh as UNH finished with a one-run deficit.

Pitcher Nicole King (Front Royal, Va./Warren County) suffered the loss for UNH with the complete game. She gave up four hits and two earned runs, while striking out five batters. The rookie fell to 8-5 on the season.

Spivey and Francisco both went 2-for-3 in the game, while Spivey added one run scored. Jen Palase (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) and Redman both added one hits each.

New Haven concludes its regular season home schedule with a three-game series against the College of Saint Rose this week. A doubleheader is schedule for Saturday, April 20 and then a single game on Sunday, April 21. Opening pitch is set for 12 p.m. on both days.