WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Coming off their road stand, the University of New Haven opened up conference play with their first of three series at home and the first of six games in four days as the Chargers welcomed the Yellowjackets of American International College to Charger Softball Field for a Friday afternoon doubleheader.

New Haven struck first in game one as Kylie Thorpe (Taunton, Mass./Taunton) led the inning off with a single to right field battling off a 2-2 pitch to right field. Ashley Veisz (Robbinsville,N.J./Robbinsville) drew a walk and advanced Thorpe to second before the top of the order came up and Bella Chenet (Plantation, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy) flew out to deep center field as Thorpe used her field to tag and score from second base to put the Chargers up by a run early. Viana McKinley (North Chesterfield, Va./Monacan) got the start in the circle and looked strong working through the Yellowjackets lineup through three innings. In the fourth, however, the Yellowjackets pushed five runs across in the inning to take the lead from the Chargers, who now trailed 5-1. The Yellowjackets would go on and win by a final score of 5-1 as McKinley fell to 0-4 in the circle as the offense combined for one run on six hits. In game two, Breanna Kinney (Minnetonka, Minn./Minnetonka) got the nod in the circle and came out dealing, striking out the first two batters she faced. AIC was the first to score in game two as they pushed three across in the second inning before adding another in the third and the fifth taking a 5-0 lead. New Haven chipped away in the fifth, as Thorpe's bat stayed red hot doubling to centerfield to lead things off before Halle Frederick (Green Lane, Pa./Quakertown) switched places with Thorpe doubling to center, putting the Chargers on the board. In the seventh, the Yellowjackets added another pair of runs making it 7-1. With rally caps on the Chargers, went to work scoring three runs in the inning after loading the bases making it a 7-4 but came up short falling by that score in the loss to AIC. New Haven now turns to a new page and sets their eyes on another conference play as the Chargers continue their home stand when they welcome the Golden Knights of Saint Rose on Saturday, March 30 with the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from Charger Softball Field. All updates, schedules, and post-game recaps for the team will be available at Newhavenchargers.com.