April 17, 2021

Softball Scores Four Runs In Both Games as Chargers Sweep Saint Rose in NE10 Doubleheader

West Haven, CT - The UNH softball team continued its winning ways, sweeping a doubleheader from NE10 Southwest Division rival Saint Rose on April 17, 2021.

The Chargers (14-4, 9-3 NE10) have now won eight straight games and improved to 7-1 on their home turf. 

The Blue and Gold rode the stellar pitching of Ava Fitzmaurice (Greenville, N.Y./Greenville) (Greenville, NY/Greenville)

and a timely hit from Nahtali Simpson (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) in the opener, then saw Fitzmaurice and Ellie Frederick (Sunapee, N.H./Sunapee) (Sunapee, NH/Sunapee) homer in game two as the Blue and Gold hung on to complete the home sweep.

Game 1 - UNH 4, Saint Rose 0

The first game was a pitchers duel until the fifth inning between Fitzmaurice and Saint Rose starter Alysa Houghtaling. That changed in the bottom of the fifth when UNH broke the game open with four runs.

Mya Case (Syracuse, N.Y/West Genessee) (Syracuse, NY/West Genessee) and Fitzmaurice singled with one out. After Jovanna Hillman (Seymour, Conn./Saint Joseph) (Seymour, CT/St. Joseph) popped up, Meg Anderson (Cranston, R.I./Cranston) (Cranston, RI/Cranson) walked setting the stage for Simpson. She drilled a 2-0 pitch to the left-center field gap, scoring all three Charger baserunners to take a 3-0 lead. Frederick would reach on an error that scored Simpson for the Blue and Gold's fourth run of the inning.

That was all the offense Fitzmaurice would need. She retired six of the final seven Golden Panthers to earn her 10thwin of the season. She allowed only three hits, while striking out three to record the shutout.

Simpson had two of the Charger seven hits on the day. In addition to Case, Fitzmaurice, and Anderson, Melissa Bike (Stratford, Conn./Saint Joseph) (Stratford, CT/St. Joseph) and Haley LaForte (Milford, CT/Foran) had singles for the Blue and Gold.

Game 2 - UNH 4, Saint Rose 3

The Blue and Gold used a booming double and the long ball to take control of game two. The Chargers scored four runs in the first three innings as Hillman doubled home Case in the bottom of the first inning. Case had led off the game with a walk. Hillman would later score as she moved to third on a wild pitch and would score on a throwing error by Saint Rose catcher Julia Rupinski.

The Blue and Gold then doubled their lead on solo homers by Frederick in the second and Fitzmaurice in the third to make the score 4-0 Chargers.

The last one would prove to be beneficial as Saint Rose finally pushed across some runs in their half of the fifth inning. UNH starter Mia Iodice (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth Regional) (Rehobeth, Mass./Dighton-Rehobeth Regional) was cruising through four shutout innings. However, the Golden Panthers scored three runs on three hits, taking advantage of a costly Charger error to pull within 4-3.

UNH head coach Jen Starek called upon Fitzmaurice to quell the threat and she struck out Shannon Moore looking with the tying run on second. Fitzmaurice would retire the final six Saint Rose batters to record her third save of the season.

Iodice got the win with her 4.2 innings of work. She scattered four hits and allowed only one earned run. She fanned two Saint Rose batters to earn her fourth win of the season.

Bike and Morgan Fisher (Erial, N.J./Paul VI) (Erial, NJ/Paul VI) also had hits on the day for the Chargers.

NEXT ON TAP

The two teams will play another doubleheader on Sunday, April 18, 2021. First pitch at the New Haven Softball Field will be at Noon. Game two will start approximately 30 minutes after the first game ends. Live coverage of the series will be available on the Chargers Sports Network on NE10 NOW with live stats available on NewHavenChargers.com.