West Haven, Conn. – Tori Schiebe drove in the winning run in the opener and Jovanna Hillman homered in the nightcap to lead the University of New Haven to a sweep of a Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the UNH Softball Field. The Chargers won the opener, 4-3, and took the nightcap, 2-0.
New Haven started the day's scoring with two runs on three hits in the second inning. Second baseman Madison Derosia doubled with one out, moved to third on a single to right center by shortstop Taylor Luzzi and scored on a groundout by catcher Marissa Colby. First baseman Kristine Liptack then singled to left field to plate Luzzi.
The Dolphins responded with three runs on one hit and one New Haven error in the fourth. Junior right fielder
Lauren Zazzaro (Southington, Conn./Southington) led off with a single to right and stole second before sophomore third baseman
Peyton Bellrose (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) drew a walk. After junior left fielder
Madison DeRita (Higganum, Conn./Mercy) reached on an error by the third baseman to load the bases, senior pitcher
Alexis Eastman (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) walked to force in Zazzaro. Following an out, sophomore first baseman
Taylor Artley (York Haven, Pa./Red Land) walked to force in Bellrose with the tying run. After a groundout, Eastman scored as graduate student center fielder
Kelsey Johnson (Greece, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy/Buffalo/Syracuse) reached on a fielder's choice.
The Chargers tied the score at three in the bottom of the fourth. Schiebe was hit by a pitch with one out, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a single to right center by Derosia.
New Haven took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth on two hits and a Le Moyne error. Liptack reached on an error by the shortstop with one out and was replaced at first by pinch-runner Samantha Errera, who advanced to third on a single to right center by Hillman. After a line out, Schiebe singled to right field to drive in Errera.
Eastman suffered her fifth loss of the season after yielding four runs (three earned) and seven hits over six innings, while striking out three. Zazzaro finished with two of Le Moyne's four hits. Megan Butts earned her 12th win of the year after striking out three over six innings, while allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits. Kylie Stonebraker collected her second save of the campaign by striking out two of the four batters she faced.
In the nightcap, the Chargers scored the only runs in the sixth inning. After Liptack led off with a single to left and was replaced by Errera, Hillman homered to center for a 2-0 lead.
Freshman righty
Lauren Nichols (Syracuse, N.Y./Solvay) yielded the two runs and five hits over six innings in the loss, while striking out five. Stonebraker earned her 12th victory after striking out eight over seven innings, while giving up just four singles.
Le Moyne (31-12, 14-9 NE10, 11-6 SW), which dropped into third place in the division, concludes the regular season on Sunday against the Chargers at 12:00 p.m. To claim the second seed in next week's NE10 Championships and a bye into the second round on Thursday, the Dolphins need to defeat the Chargers and have Saint Rose beat Pace twice. If the Dolphins lose or Pace wins one of the games, the Setters will be the second seed and the Dolphins will host New Haven, which is locked into the fourth seed, in the first round on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.
