by Kimberly Pena and Brennah Dallaire
Game 1
The Central Connecticut State University Softball team faced Bryant University in a double header at Arute field this past Saturday. After a strong performance by pitcher Emily Sargent, the CCSU offense couldn’t come through with the big hit.
Sargent was efficient as she pitched all seven innings and saw 30 batters. Sargent cites some of her performance highs as contributing to “getting out of some tough spots with runners on base in the first and fourth innings.”
“Our defense played well with runners in scoring position, and held them to only three runs on eight hits,” said Sargent.
Sargent could not find the strike zone when she walked in a run in the second inning. After throwing a wild pitch that hit Bryant’s center fielder, Haylee Haas, catcher Robyn Ukegawa scored the first run of the game. Sargent also gave up a home run in the third to Bryant University’s short stop, Marianna Politis.
Politis’s teammates congratulated her at home plate after she hit the only home run of the game over the left field wall.
After a slow start offensively, the Blue Devils picked up momentum in the third inning. Central’s right fielder, Kerri Dadalski doubled to right center field sending catcher, Brittany McNulla to third and center fielder, Brittany Camara in to score. Central’s second baseman, Kaitlin Paterson followed up with a single through the left side, sending McNulla in to score Central’s second and last run of the game.
In the sixth inning, Bryant’s third baseman, Rachel Monroe tripled to right center. With Monroe in scoring position, Gabrielle Ermish hit an RBI single to center field and the Bulldogs took a 3-2 lead over the Blue Devils.
“I think that offensively we put up a good fight, but struggled stringing together the hits that could’ve given us one or two more runs,” said Sargent.
“We showed up to win two games today, played hard and unfortunately fell short by one run in game one,” said Sargent.
Game 2
After dropping their first game of a double-header in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss, the Central Connecticut State University softball team redeemed themselves with a 4-1 win over Bryant University on a windy Saturday afternoon. The win improved the CCSU’s record to 6-16 for the season.
Pitcher Alex Casañas threw a complete game of one-run ball against the Bull Dogs, giving Casañas her first win of the season and dropping her ERA to 4.96 for the season. The only blemish in Casañas outing came from an RBI single by Gabrielle Ermish in the second inning.
“Today I focused more on the small details and just trying to focus on each pitch I threw to the batters and as a team we focused on winning each inning,” said Casañas. “My changeup was working great today, so I threw that way more often than I normally do.”
Unlike the first game, the Blue Devils provided much more offense, scoring four runs in the third inning to back up the strong performance by Casañas. Tori Constantin led off the inning with a single, Emily Cronnin followed up with a walk and a bunt single by Alexis Debrosse loaded up the bases. Brittany Camara came through with a two-run scoring single to give the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead.
“It was great though to see my team hitting like I know they can,” said Casañas. “When your team is able to back you up offensively, it makes the game a lot easier for the pitcher.”
Brittany McNulla then hit a sacrifice fly, increasing the Blue Devils lead to 3-1. The inning was capped off by an RBI single by Kaleigh Edwards, scoring Camara to give the Blue Devils a 4-1 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
“Some changes that we made between games was that we reset our mindset and realized that we needed to string some hits together and tally up some more runs, which we did,” said Sargent.
Casañas surrendered only one hit after the second inning, breezing right through the Bull Dogs offense.
“The defense did another great job and backed up our sophomore pitcher Alex Casañas for her first win in the circle,” said Sargent.
Although the team has been off to a rocky start, the team is hoping with the win a lot more W’s can come their way.
“I hope that we as a team can move forward with a lot more confidence to finish off the season with the wins we need, and the right mindset to win the conference,” said Casañas.
The Blue Devils move on to Mount Saint Mary’s University on Friday, April 14 for a double-header. First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m.