ROCKVILLE CENTRE, New York. – Coming off their first home series of the year where they battled the rain, the University of New Haven Softball team returned to the road, this time staying closer to home as they took the bus ride to take on the Lions of Molloy in their final stand before opening up conference play this weekend. After the bats started to come alive at home against the Cougars of Caldwell, the blue and gold looked for their bats to stay hot and turned to freshman pitcher Breanna Kinney (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) to deal in the circle.

The Lions at home struck first pushing across a pair of runs in the first inning off a a pair of hits as Kinney stranded a Lion on the paths to end the inning. Kinney hung a zero in the second as the offense put their first run up on the board in the third. Stephanie Smith (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Catholic) led off the inning and after battling to a 2-2 count she put the fifth pitch she saw from the Lions starter in play and used her speed up the base path to reach on an error by the pitcher and turned things over to the top of the order. Bella Chenet (Plantation, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy) stepped in leading the team in batting average and after falling behind in the count drove an 0-2 pitch to the gap in left field, scoring Smith from first putting the Chargers on the board, and cutting into Molloy's lead. The Lions however would respond with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning to make it 5-1 which would hold as the final as the Chargers dropped the opener of the doubleheader behind one run and five hits from the offense and Kinney's four innings of four-hit three-run, one earned run, work from the circle. In game two the Chargers looked to sophomore pitcher Skylar Griffin (Berlin, Md./Stephen Decatur). The Chargers opened up the game as Chenet reached to open up the game off an error the Chargers would get two runners on but could not get the big hit they were looking for. The Lions however would go on and plate two in the first then five in the second to take the lead in game two. The Chargers pushed their first run across in the fifth inning. Bella Lagatolla led the inning off with a double and after a Sophia Piccirilli (Dover, N.H./Winnacunnet) walk, the Chargers had two on and no outs. Alison Murai came up with the big hit singling to the right-center gap scoring Lagatolla to put New Haven on the board.  The Lions would go on to win 7-1 as the Chargers would drop the pair to Molloy on the road. New Haven now turns to a new page and sets their eyes on conference play as the Chargers return home for the weekend to open up NE10 play when they welcome the Yellowjackets of American International College to town to open up their home stand on Friday, March 29 with first pitch scheduled for 2:30p.m from Charger Softball Field. All updates, schedules, and post-game recaps for the team will be available at Newhavenchargers.com.