MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The University of New Haven softball team closed out its southern swing against Slippery Rock on Sunday morning, defeating The Rock, 2-1, at the Grand Park Complex. With the win, New Haven closed out the Snowbird Freeze Out with a 3-2 record, with two of those wins coming against nationally ranked opponents.
 
Senior Kristine Liptack (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) had another solid day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Four other Chargers also had a hit on the day with junior Taylor Luzzi (Fishkill, N.Y./John Jay), Jovanna Hillman (Seymour, Conn./Saint Joseph's), senior Tori Schiebe (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) and junior Madison Derosia (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro Union) each landing one hit.
 
With both runs coming off RBI doubles, the pitching and defense ended up being the key to the victory with sophomore Kylie Stonebraker (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis High School) tossing 5.0 total innings with two strikeouts, surrendering the only run in the first inning. Sophomore Megan Butts (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) came in for relief in the fifth inning, getting her first career save with 2.0 innings pitched. For The Rock, Brooke Dawson was tagged with the loss, falling to 1-2 on the season.
 
New Haven got all the runs it would need in the top of the first with senior Kristine Liptack (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) smacking a double to center field to score junior Taylor Luzzi (Fishkill, N.Y./John Jay) who reached on a fielder's choice. One batter later, freshman Jovanna Hillman (Seymour, Conn./Saint Joseph's) got her fourth extra base hit in five games with a two-bagger to right field to plate Liptack. Slippery Rock's only run came in the first inning with a double down the left field line that scored Becca Roesch all the way from first base.
 
Slippery Rock drew a walk to start off the bottom of the second and loaded the bases with two straight bunts with each runner beating out the throw on close calls. With a bases loaded, no-out situation, Stonebraker pitched herself out of a major jam, retiring the next three batters to maintain the 2-1 lead. Stonebraker kept mowing them down in the circle, retiring three-straight batters an inning later. When heading back out to the circle for the bottom of the fourth, Stonebraker not only threw another 1-2-3 inning, but only needed three pitches to do so as The Rock went down in order with a fly-out and two-straight line-outs. Butts came out just as strong in the bottom of the fifth to relieve Stonebraker, also sitting down three Rock batters in a row.
 
Slippery Rock got two runners on in the bottom of the sixth, but really threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, starting a rally with a walk. Head Coach Jen Starek elected to make a pitching change as Stonebraker came back in to the game to throw the Rock batters off balance. The Virginia native did just that, getting two straight outs and was faced with a runner on third, two-out scenario with a pinch hitter up to bat in the bottom of the seventh. Not phased by the runner on third, Stonebraker kept up her swagger, striking her opponent out swinging and sophomore Samantha Errera (Sweetwater, N.J./Cedar Creek) was able to hold on to the foul tip to cap off the win in style.
 
New Haven returns home and will have just over two weeks off before returning to the diamond on Tuesday, Mar. 6 for a doubleheader against Queens (N.Y.) First pitch at the New Haven softball field is slated for 2:00 pm.