MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The University of New Haven softball team opened its season on a high note, picking up a pair of wins at the Snowbird Freezeout on Friday. The Chargers opened the day by downing the No. 4 California (Pa.) Vulcans 3-2 before topping the Lock Haven Eagles 5-0.
 
Against the Vulcans, New Haven got off to a fast start as Jen Palase (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) opened the top of the first with a triple. Sierra Whitlock (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) walked to put runners on the corners. Taylor Luzzi (Fishkill, N.Y./John Jay) drove in Palase with a groundout, pushing Whitlock to third. Sierra Cardenales (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) followed with an RBI groundout of her own, plating Whitlock for a 2-0 lead.
 
The game remained that way into the third when Gabby DeLeo (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert Catholic) walked and moved to second on groundout. With two out, Luzzi grounded a ball to shortstop. The throw to first bounced into the New Haven dugout, allowing DeLeo to score, making it 3-0.
 
In the circle, Nicole King (Front Royal, Va./Warren County) was strong, striking out eight in the first four innings. Her only trouble came in the fifth, when Cal tallied their only two runs of the game. In the seventh, the Vulcans threatened, putting the winning run on first base with no outs, but King bore down to get the final three batters of the game to finish off the win. Overall, she allowed two runs on five hits, striking out 11.
 
In the second game of the day, New Haven once again got on the board early as in the second inning with runners on second and third, a Marissa Colby (Carlton, Mass./Shepherd Hill) groundout scored Luzzi who had walked before moving up on a Tori Schiebe (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) single.
 
The game stayed tight until the fifth when Julie Devlin (Baldwin, N.Y./Northwood School) reached on an error. After stealing third, she scored on a Palase single. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Cardenales singled home Kristine Liptack (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) to make it 3-0. The Chargers added runs in the sixth and seventh innings to push the lead to 5-0.
 
The offense was plenty for Victoria Cabral (New Britain, Conn./Miss Porter's School / Hofstra) who was outstanding in the circle in earning the shutout victory. She surrendered just five hits and two walks, striking out seven.
 
New Haven returns to action on Saturday for two games, taking on Merrimack at 10:00 a.m. before facing Shippensburg at 2:00 p.m.