CCSU softball was swept over the weekend by Long Island University.
Central began the series with a doubleheader on Friday, which was moved up a day due to rain.
Senior Kaylee Whittaker gave up five runs in the first two innings of game one but found her rhythm and did not give up any more runs through the next five innings. She finished the complete game, allowing four hits and compiling five strikeouts.
Central’s lone run came courtesy of senior Paige Stringer, who knocked in senior Meg Gorman in the bottom of the first.
Coming into the bottom of the sixth, Central had the bases loaded with a chance to tie the game. Freshman Emma Henry made it home on a wild pitch, making the game 5-2.
With two outs and runners in scoring position, freshman Sophia LoPiccolo came up to bat, but she popped up, and LIU took the first game 5-2.
Coach Breanne Gleason was impressed with LIU’s performance and gave them a lot of credit.
“LIU is a really well-coached team, and they are always very prepared,” she said. “They pitched very well, they played phenomenal defense, and they made it really hard for us to get on base.”
In game two, freshman Adrianna Green started and pitched all seven innings. Green gave up only two runs on five hits. She struggled to find strikes late in the game but battled back to get the outs.
The two runs given up came in the top of the fifth after a solo home run and a questionable fair ball call down the third base line, a call Gleason disagreed with.
“I thought it was foul, but he called it fair,” she said. “Regardless, that call doesn’t matter because we didn’t score any runs. If we had lost 2-1, that might have been a bigger call.”
Central’s offense struggled in the second game, finishing with only one hit.
“Moving forward, we have to go back to our own identity; try to hit the ball the way that we hit the ball, try to hit the ball hard,” Gleason said.
Game three was played on Sunday, and it took 10 innings to determine a winner. Kaylee Whittaker was back to start, tossing all 10 innings with seven strikeouts, only giving up two runs on five hits.
Central struck early, taking the lead in the bottom of the first with a double from Stringer that scored Gorman.
LIU matched them in the second inning with a double of their own, tying the game. The game would remain tied until the 10th inning when the Sharks scored on a sacrifice flyout. Central had the chance to match but was unable to do so.
Central did get five hits in this one, showing some improvement offensively.
“We have to go out and compete,” Gleason said. “We have to think about us and play Central softball.”
With these conference losses, Central falls to fifth in the NEC. The Blue Devils will travel to Le Moyne College for a three-game series starting on March 29.
