BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 LOWELL, Mass. - Pitchers Nicole King (Front Royal, Va./Warren County) and Micah Stonesifer (Archer City, Texas/Archer City / Vernon College) combined to lead the University of New Haven softball team to a doubleheader sweep of University of Massachusetts Lowell Sunday afternoon in Mass. Stonesifer threw the complete game 4-3 victory in game one and King tossed a complete game shutout in a 12-0 win in the nightcap. Senior shortstop Christina Gelardi (Derby, Conn./Derby) led the Chargers' offense, going 7-for-7 with four runs and one RBI in the two wins.

New Haven improved to 18-7 overall with the wins, while the River Hawks dropped to 12-17 on the season.

Game One
The afternoon started with a pair of scoreless innings in game one. New Haven scored three runs off three hits in the top of the third to take an early lead. Lindsey Couturier (Dighton, Mass./Dighton Rehoboth Regional) hit a double to center to drive in two runs, while Lucy Francisco (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence ) hit a single to center to drive in the third run. The River Hawks were next to score in the bottom of the fourth inning. A two-out RBI single scored one run for UMass Lowell who cut the Chargers' lead to just two runs.

Keri Tricinelli (Brick, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) drove in the Chargers fourth run in the top of the fifth inning with a RBI single to left field. The run would prove to be the eventual game winning run as the River Hawks would mount a comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning. UMass Lowell strung together two hits and one UNH error to score two runs in the bottom of the final inning. With two outs, the River Hawks had two runners on base, but back-to-back outs sealed the one-run victory for UNH.

Stonesifer improved to 7-3 with a complete game in the cirle for UNH. She struck out eight batters and gave up seven hits.

Couturier went 1-for-1 with two RBI and one run in game one. Gelardi also was perfect and went 4-for-4 with one run.

Game Two
The Chargers wasted no time scoring runs in the nightcap. UNH put two runs on the board with a trio of singles to lead off the inning. Three more runs put New Haven ahead 5-0 in the top of the third inning. Francisco drove in two with a single to third base.

After another scoreless bottom half of the third, the complete fourth inning went scoreless. New Haven added one in the top of the fifth with a solo homerun by Couturier. The side was retired in the bottom of the fifth and UNH held a 6-0 lead heading into the sixth. New Haven then poured on six runs off five hits, including a two-RBI single from Francisco. In the bottom portion of the sixth, the River Hawks open the inning with a walk, but three straight batters flied out to give the Chargers a mercy rule victory after six inning.

King pitched the complete game shutout and allowed just one hit. She also threw three strikeouts in her sixth win of the season.

The UNH bats were very successful as Couturier and Gelardi both went perfect at the dish. The shortstop went 3-for-3 with three runs and one RBI, while the third baseman went 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored. Francisco added a 3-for-4 average with four RBI and one run. Jess Spivey (Holland, Pa./Council Rock) added multiple RBI with two and 1-of-2 at the plate.

New Haven will return to action on Tuesday, April 9 at Dominican College in a rescheduled game from earlier in March. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.