SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Senior Vanessa Strohm (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) went yard for the second time this season as the University of New Haven softball team defeated Le Moyne 11-9 in 10 innings to take the series victory over the Dolphins in Northeast-10 Southwest Division play. Overall, New Haven was led by senior Taylor Luzzi (Fishkill, N.Y./John Jay) who finished 3-of-5 with a pair of RBI, while Strohm and sophomore Melissa Bike (Stratford, Conn./Saint Joseph) joined her in leading the way with two RBI apiece.
Joining Luzzi in leading the Chargers with a game-high three hits was freshman Mya Case (Syracuse, N.Y/West Genessee), while senior Sierra Whitlock (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) and Strohm were the only others to finish with multiple hits on the day. Case, junior Samantha Errera (Sweetwater, N.J./Cedar Creek) and freshman Rachel Crafts (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) also finished with a single RBI on the day.
In the circle, freshman Ava Fitzmaurice (Greenville, N.Y./Greenville) earned the victory pitching 7.2 innings overall allowing five earned, six total, on seven hits with five strikeouts. Also pitching effectively was junior Megan Butts (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) who threw 1.2 innings without surrendering an earned run on a pair of hits.
Strohm's two-run bomb opened up the scoring in the second inning with her first RBI made possible by a Le Moyne error that allowed Crafts to reach safely.
The Dolphins turned the tables in the fifth inning plating six runs, sending a total of 12 batters to the plate. Overall, Le Moyne finished with seven hits in the frame, only one of which went for extra bases, while two of the singles drove in two runs apiece.
New Haven began to eat into that deficit with a pair of runs in the sixth inning after the first two batters in the inning reached safely on a single from Luzzi and a walk issued to designated hitter Jovanna Hillman (Seymour, Conn./Saint Joseph). With two outs in the inning, the Chargers first baseman, Bike came up with the big hit on a bases-loaded single through the right side that allowed Luzzi and Errera, who pinch ran for Hillman, to score.
Trailing by two going into the top of the seventh, New Haven rallied after an early out to score three runs and take a 7-6 lead. After the Dolphins secured the first out on a groundball, the top of the order came through as the next five batters all reached safely with singles from Whitlock and Case followed by a double from Luzzi that scored the first run. The next two batters, Errera and Crafts followed with singles of their own to drive in the final two runs.
Le Moyne would rally with a single run in the seventh inning, trying the game courtesy of a passed ball. Both teams would manage a single run in the eighth inning to keep the stalemate in place. The Chargers run came after Case and Luzzi opened up the inning with singles before back-to-back two-out walks were issued to Strohm and Derosia with the second one driving in the go-ahead run. The Dolphins answered with a two-out solo home run out of the six-hole hitter to re-tied the score, this time at 8-8.
The Chargers would rally once more, scoring three runs in the top of the 10th inning. It would once again be the top of the order that came up big with singles from Whitlock and Case, the latter of which drove in the first run while Luzzi capped it off sacrificing herself to drive in Whitlock. Case would come around to score thanks to a pair of errors from Le Moyne.
Le Moyne tried to make it interesting scoring a single run in the seventh inning before the Chargers closed things down with a pair of groundouts and a fly ball to centerfield securing the series victory.
New Haven will return to the field on Tuesday afternoon when they welcome the Adelphi Panthers to West Haven closing out a home-and-home series with the Panthers. First pitch in the opening game of the doubleheader is slated for 2:00 p.m. at the New Haven Softball Field.
