Southern Connecticut Softball split a pair of Northeast 10 Conference match ups against American International College at the Pelz Field on Tuesday March 31. The Owls move to 12-8 overall and 5-5 in the NE10 and the Yellow Jackets move to 5-17 overall and 1-9 in the NE10.
Game 1: SCSU 7, American International 0
Behind a three-hit shutout by Ashley Lewis, who improved to 5-3 on the year with wins in four-straight starts, the Owls used a five-run 2nd inning to propel them to a 7-0 in Game 1 of its NE10 doubleheader against AIC.
Nadia Cestari drove in two runs with a double while Cheyenne LaTouche was 1-for-1 with two walks a RBI, two runs scored and three stolen bases. Gianna Iaquinto and Izzy Ingersoll also drove in runs for the Owls. LaTouche and Sophia Angiolini have now hit safely in five-straight games.
In the 2nd, Angiolini had a one-out single before LaTouche and Olivia Young walked to load the bases. Cestari's double brought Angiolini and LaTouche home before Young scored on Christina Novellis' ground ball to first. With the ball being misplayed and allowing Novellis to reach, the first-year Owl stole second to put runners on second and third. Ingersoll then ground out to second, allowing Cestari to score, before Iaquinto's single to center field score DeNovellis to give the Owls a 5-0 lead.
In the 3rd, Karley Austin led off with a base hit and moved to second on Angiolini's ground-out to second. LaTouche singled up the middle to score Austin from second before Young popped out. Cestari walked and LaTouche took third on the play before scoring on a delayed steal on the rundown play between first and second with Cestari, who also reached second with a stolen base.
Lewis was cruising on the mound, retiring eight-straight from the top of the 1st through the 3rd before retiring 10 straight batters before giving up a one-out double in the top of the 7th. Lewis managed to pitch out of the jam and held on for the shutout. In her last five appearances, Lewis is 4-0 with a save and a 1.86 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 26 innings.
GAME 2 - American International 4, SCSU 2
In game two, Giselle DeLutri got the start tossing 6.1 innings allowing four runs on five hits, while striking out eight. In relief, Kate Nickerson finished the remain .2 innings of the game not allowing a hit. Offensively in game two, Ingersoll and Young each had a pair of hits, while Pearson and Angiolini each picked up RBIs.
AIC struck for a run it its first at-bat to take an early 1-0 lead. In the 3rd inning, Ingersoll led off the inning with a single up the middle before moving to second when Iaquito laid down a bunt and beat the throw to the bag for an infield single. Brianna Pearson then lined a single to left single to bring Ingersoll around with the game-tying run.
AIC struck again in the top of the 5th with a pair of runs to push its lead to 3-1. In the bottom half of the inning, Austin reached on four-straight balls before Angiolini lined a double to the right-center gap to score Austin and cut AIC's lead to 3-2. AIC scored again in the 7th to take a two-run lead, 4-2, and ending Giselle DeLutri's outing on the mound for the Owls in favor of Kate Nickerson.
The Owls would come up in the top half of the inning and begin to mount a comeback. The inning's offense began with a walk by Pearson. The following batter Austin would single to center field, putting the game tying runs on base. After a ground out by Angiolini that allowed Pearson and Austin to move into scoring position, LaTouche walked to set up a base loaded situation with two outs for Young. On a 2-1 count, Young connected with a ball, but flew out to shortstop to give AIC the 4-2 victory.
Southern Connecticut is back in action on Friday April 3 when they travel to take on Franklin Pierce in a pair of NE10 conference games beginning at 3 and 5 PM. The Owls return home on Saturday April 11 for an NE10 doubleheader against Saint Michael's College beginning at 2:30pm.
