(04-13-09) NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The University of New Haven softball team split a pair of games at Merrimack College Monday afternoon. New Haven fell 7-5 in game one, but rebounded with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap. After splitting, the Chargers now stand at 19-11 overall and 11-5 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Warriors are now 20-12 overall and 13-5 in the NE-10.
Junior pitcher Breanne Gleason started the game one just five strikeouts away from breaking the Chargers career strikeout record of 614 which was held by Jo-Lynn Cimino (1994-98). In the bottom of the third inning Gleason put an exclamation on her first UNH pitching record by striking out the Merrimack side and becoming the Chargers all-time leader with 615. She added six more in the final four innings and seven in the nightcap to push her career mark to 628.
Game One
The Chargers took a 3-0 lead in the opening game after a three-run third inning. Gleason gave New Haven the lead off a three-run homerun which scored Nicole Downs and Jessica Medina. Chelsea Harold scored the Chargers fourth run off a Warriors errors in the next inning, giving UNH a 4-0 lead. Merrimack scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth inning, cutting UNH's lead to 4-1.
Jordanna Borska gave New Haven another four point lead off a solo shot which went over the left center fence. The Warriors then exploded with six runs, including a grand slam, in the bottom of the fifth inning which gave them the eventual winning score of 7-5.
Gleason went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run. She also faced 28 batters and allowed only three earned runs. Borska drove in one run, had one hit and scored one run.
Game Two
The Warriors scored first in game two Monday. They drove in one run in the bottom of the first inning and held a 1-0 until the Chargers evened the score in the top of the fourth inning. The Chargers added two runs in the fifth. Gleason drove in the Chargers game-winning run with a single to center field. Two batters later Samantha Minervini drove in Gleason to give UNH a 3-1 lead.
The Chargers scored their final three runs in the top of the seventh inning, securing their 19th win of the season. Allison Vaughan and Amy Nepi each drove in runs in the final inning.
Minervini led the Chargers with three hits a RBI and one run. Downs also tallied three hits, while Gleason registered two hits, a RBI and a run. Vaughan drove in two runs and scored one.
Gleason pitched another complete game and threw seven strikeouts. She walked just one batter and forced 10 fly outs.
The Chargers return to action on Wednesday, April 15 when they travel to Bentley University for a doubleheader. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
Box Score - Game One
Box Score - Game Two
