NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior Mel Bike and junior Nahtali Simpson (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) combined for eight of the Chargers 25 hits as the New Haven softball team completed a two-game sweep of crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State University on Wednesday afternoon. The Blue and Gold opened the day with a 7-0 decision in the opening game before scoring a 13-1 victory in game two, with junior Ava Fitzmaurice (Greenville, N.Y./Greenville) earning both victories in the circle.
Fitzmaurice improves to 6-1 on the season, pitching a total of 13 innings on the day, including starting game one. Overall, she surrendered just four hits total, allowing a single earned run on the day and registering four strikeouts. Fitzmaurice also finished the day with three hits, including one of two home runs on the day.
At the plate, 10 different players combined for the 25 total hits with Bike and Simpson each finishing with four. Simpson also led the team with four RBI with one of those hits going for two bases. Bike followed Simpson with three RBI, while senior Jovanna Hillman (Seymour, Conn./Saint Joseph) and freshman Ashley Veisz (Robbinsville,N.J./Robbinsville) also each drove in three runs. Fitzmaurice and junior Mya Case (Syracuse, N.Y/West Genessee) followed Simpson and Bike with three hits apiece.
GAME 1: New Haven 7, SCSU 0
The Chargers opened up the scoring early with a single run in the first inning, scoring at least one run in five of the seven frames. Case and Fitzmaurice would lead off the day for New Haven with back-to-back singles, the first of which by Case was later rewarded when freshman Meg Anderson (Cranston, R.I./Cranston) drove her in with a sacrifice fly to left.
Two innings later the Blue and Gold struck again, this time with a two-run home run from Hillman, the first long ball of the season for New Haven. That hit drove in Case who once again singled through the left side starting out her day 2-for-2.
Two more runs came in the fifth inning, with both of those off the bat of Simpson as her second, of three hits in the game, went for two bases as she found the gap in right center. A single run in the sixth came from the starting pitcher as Fitzmaurice second hit in the game sailed over the fence in left, while Simspon's third hit of the day, a single up the middle drove in a pinch runner, Bella Lagattolla (Hudson, Mass./Assabet Valley Regional Tech).
In the circle, Fitzmaurice surrendered just two hits, both of which were singles in the sixth inning as she would close out that frame stranding both runners on the corners, forcing a popup to third. Overall, she faced just three batters over the minimum, surrendering one walk in the game.
GAME 2: New Haven 13, SCSU 1
The Chargers again opened up the scoring early, plating four runs in the first inning with the first two batters again reaching safely as Case worked a walk and Fitzmaurice followed with an infield single. Three of the runs in the inning came on RBI's with Veisz a earning one and Bike driving in the other two.
After scoring one more run in the second, UNH broke open the game in the sixth inning when they sent 13 batters to the plate, scoring eight runs on nine hits and a pair of SCSU miscues. In the second inning it was singles from freshman Hailey Laforte (Milford, Conn./Foran) and Hillman that amounted to the run, with the latter from Hillman driving in Laforte from second after she stole the base to get herself in scoring position.
In the eighth, the biggest hit of the inning came off the bat from Veisz as she laced her second triple of the season driving in a pair of runs. In addition to that, Simpson, Bike, LaForte and Case all drove in runs with Case accounting for two.
In the circle, Fitzmaurice took over in the middle of the first inning, stranding a pair of runners on base in that frame. After an error allowed a runner in the third, she would go on to retire five straight before surrendering a leadoff double in the fifth that eventually paid off as the only run SCSU would score on the day. She closed out the game retiring the final six batters she faced on four groundouts and a pair of popups.
NEXT UP
New Haven will return to the diamond on Saturday when they host American International for the first two games in a four-game weekend series in Southwest Divisional action. First pitch on day one of the weekend series is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. with all of the action to be broadcast live on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW and live stats available on NewHavenChargers.com.
