BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 MANCHESTER, N.H. – The University of New Haven softball team secured its seven consecutive 20-win season on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of Franklin Pierce University at the SNHU Softball Field. The Chargers took the opening game by a score of 1-0 and completed the shutout day with an 8-0 five-inning game in the nightcap.
 
Victoria Cabral (New Britain, Conn./Miss Porter's School / Hofstra University) came one hit away from a perfect game in the second, while Lindsey Couturier (Dighton, Mass./Dighton Rehoboth Regional) drove in four runs and scored another two with a pair of two-RBI hits.
 
The Chargers improve to 20-6 overall and 12-4 in the Northeast-10 Conference with the two wins. The Ravens drop to 4-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
 
Game One
After leaving three runners on base in the top of the first, New Haven trapped two Ravens on base in the bottom of the opening inning. The Chargers only run of game one came in the top of the second inning. A Gilly Childs (Los Angeles, Calif./Notre Dame Academy) one-out single set up a Jess Spivey (Holland, Pa./Council Rock) RBI double to left field as the eventual game-winning run crossed the plate.
 
The Ravens left one on in the bottom of the second, while the Chargers left three on in the top of the third and the side was retired in the bottom. Both teams managed base runners in the final four innings, but a total of seven runners were left on by both teams. Nicole King (Front Royal, Va./Warren County) completed the shutout victory with three strikeouts and a walk in the final inning.
 
She tossed a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and three walks for her 11th victory of the season.
 
Julie Devlin (Baldwin, N.Y./Northwood School) led the UNH bats with three hits, while Spivey and Brandy Dianno (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) both went 2-for-4. Spivey drove in the lone run, while Childs scored the one run.
 
Game Two
The Chargers began game two with a leadoff walk by Spivey, but left two runners stranded in the first. The game remained scoreless until the top of the third when Spivey lead off with a double to center field. Couturier then hit a homerun two batters later to plate a pair of runs. Brooke Fisher (Erial, N.J./Camden Catholic) completed back-to-back homeruns with a solo shot to left field, while the rare third straight homerun came from Devlin over the center field fence. UNH went ahead 4-0 after five hits in the third.
 
In the top of the fourth, the Chargers scored another four runs off three hits and three errors by the Ravens. Meghan Chamoff (Roslyn Heights, N.Y./Herricks) began the rally scoring on a wild pitch. After a Franklin Pierce pitching change, Couturier doubled to right field and cleared the bases for a 7-0 Chargers lead. Later in the inning, she scored off an infield error for an 8-0 UNH advantage.
 
Cabral retired two in the bottom of the fourth, while forcing a ground out for the third and final out. The Chargers left one base runner on in the top of the fifth before the perfect game was broken up in the bottom of the fifth and final inning. The leadoff batter lined out, while the second batter hit a double to left field. After a ground out, Cabral fanned the final batter of the five-inning outing.
 
In total, Cabral struck out eight batters in her ninth win of the season.
 
At the plate, Couturier went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs, while Fisher, Spivey and Devlin all drove in one run and scored another. Jen Palase (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) went a perfect 3-for-3, and Dianno went 2-for-3 with one run.
 
The Chargers return to the field in the first of eight straight home games on Tuesday, April 8 against Pace. The single game will start at 4 p.m. at the UNH Softball Field. New Haven then hosts Caldwell for a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday at 3 p.m.