West Haven, Conn. – Senior designated player/pitcher
Alexis Eastman (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) drove in the winning run and then earned the save as the Le Moyne College softball team defeated the University of New Haven, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon in the Northeast-10 Conference regular season finale for both teams at the UNH Softball Field.
The Dolphins finish the regular season with a 12-6 record in divisional play. The Dolphins are guaranteed at least the third seed in the division, but would be the second seed if Pace loses both of its games to Saint Rose this evening. The second seed will earn a bye into the second round of the NE10 Championship on Thursday, while the third seed will host New Haven on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. Visit the schedule after 8:00 p.m. this evening for the latest information on the team's seed.
The Dolphins opened the game's scoring with a run in the first inning. With two outs, junior right fielder
Lauren Zazzaro (Southington, Conn./Southington) struck out swinging, but was able to reach first on a wild pitch. After stealing second, Zazzaro scored on a single through the right side by sophomore third baseman
Peyton Bellrose (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool).
New Haven evened the score at one apiece in the bottom of the third on a pair of hits. Second baseman Madison Derosia led off with a double down the right field line and came around to score on a single to right center by shortstop Taylor Luzzi.
Le Moyne scored the winning run in the top of the sixth. Zazzaro led off with a triple to right center. After a pair of groundouts to third, Eastman singled up the middle to drive in Zazzaro.
The Chargers put the tying run on base to start the seventh, but the next three batters were retired, the last two by Eastman, to close out the game.
Freshman righty
Lauren Nichols (Syracuse, N.Y./Solvay) earned her seventh win of the season after tossing six and one-third innings, while yielding just one run and five hits. Eastman collected her fifth save of the year by retiring the two batters she faced. Megan Butts suffered the loss after giving up two runs and eight hits, while striking out four.
