NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Southern Connecticut State University softball lost to Southern New Hampshire, 8-4 and 5-0, in a Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader at Pelz Field in New Haven, Conn. With the losses, Southern dropped to 5-5 overall and 0-2 in the NE10 while Southern New Hampshire improved to 8-5 overall and open NE10 play at 2-0.
Brianna Pearson had a pair of hits and three RBI in the first game while Karley Austin extended her hitting streak to six-straight games. Izzy Ingersoll extended her streak to 10-straight games of reaching base safely and Giselle DeLutri recoreded her 100th career strikeout.
GAME 1 – SNHU 8, SCSU 4
Sophia Angiolini was 3-for-4 while Brianna Pearson was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Izzy Ingersoll was 2-for-4 with a run scored and Nadia Cestari was 2-for-3. Ashley Lewis took the loss to drop to 1-3 on the season.
Southern New Hampshire scored twice in the 1st and 2nd innings to jump out to a 4-0 lead. In the 4th, Olivia Young led off the inning with a single before Cestari bunted her over to second. Ingersoll then singled through the left side of the infield to move Young to third base. After Cheyenne LaTouche walked to load the bases, Pearson hit a slow roller in front of the plate at that Penmen's catcher picked up and threw away, allowing Young and Ingersoll to score and cut SNHU's lead in half, 4-2. Karley Austin then singled through the left side of the infield to score Pearson and pull the Owls within a run, 4-3.
SNHU struck back in the top of the 5th with a three-run inning to push its lead to 7-3. They scored again in the 6th. In the bottom of the inning, LaTouche walked to lead off the inning and then went to second on a wild pitch. She scored on a RBi single by Pearson to center for the game's final run.
GAME 2 – SNHU 5, SCSU 0
Southern took a 5-0 loss in the second and managed to only muster two hits in the loss. Gianna Iaquinto singled in the 2nd and Karley Austin singled in the 4th. Kate Nickerson took the loss to drop to 2-1 on the season while Giselle DeLutri struck out two batters in one inning of work while holding SNHU scoreless.
Southern Connecticut and Southern New Hampshire will play the second half of its four-game set on Saturday, March 21 at 12 p.m. at Pelz Field in New Haven, Conn.
