(04-25-09) RINDGE, N.H. - The University of New Haven softball team swept Franklin Pierce University Saturday afternoon and clinched at least the second seed in next week's Northeast-10 Conference Championship Tournament. With the wins, the Chargers conclude their regular season with a 30-14 overall record and a 21-7 Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) record. The Ravens fall to 5-33 overall and 1-23 in the NE-10.
Game One
The Chargers opened scoring in game one on Saturday off a Jessica Medina homerun to lead off the second inning. The Raven's answered with a RBI single up the middle in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score at 1-1.
Neither team could score a run, despite leaving runners on base, in each of the next three innings. However, New Haven broke the tie in the top of the sixth inning. Breanne Gleason led off the inning with a double to center field. Carolyn Fruin ran for Gleason on second and advanced to third on a single by Jessica Medina. Katie Bannon, who pinch ran for Medina, then stole second and put runners on second and third with no outs. Meghan Walter then drove in Fruin with a sacrifice fly to left field and Courtney Garland drove in Bannon with a foul fly to left field, giving the Chargers a 3-1 lead.
Two hits in the bottom half of the sixth inning gave the Ravens one run, but the Chargers held off as they earned their 29th victory of the year.
Courtney Creedon pitched five and 1/3 innings for the Chargers and threw four strikeouts in her third win of the season. Gleason came in the game in relief and pitched the final one and 2/3 innings. She earned her first save of the season and struck out each of the five batters she faced.
Medina led the UNH bats with two hits in three at-bats. She drove in one run and scored another.
Game Two
The Chargers carried their opening game momentum into game two where they scored seven runs in the opening inning. The Ravens walked three of the Chargers first four batters and loaded the bases for Walter who stepped to the plate with one out. She drove a double down the right field line and scored two runs. Medina scored the Chargers third run on the same play, after the Ravens' attempted to pick off Walter at second base. Allison Vaughan then hit a triple down the right field line and scored Walter from second to give UNH a 4-0 lead. Garland drove in her second game-winning RBI of the day with a homerun over the fence in right center just one batter later. In her second at-bat of the first inning, Nicole Downs drove in the Chargers seventh run of the inning on a single up the middle.
New Haven took an 8-0 lead after the top of the second inning before the Ravens would make a run in the bottom of the second. Franklin Pierce scored five in the bottom of the second and cut the Chargers lead to 8-5.
The Ravens held the Chargers scoreless in the third, but allowed two runs in the fourth, two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth as UNH sealed their 30th victory of the season. It marks the eighth time since the program began in 1976 that the team's recorded 30-or-more wins and just the second time since 1998.
In the fourth inning, Gleason hit a deep ball over the fence in left center and tied the UNH record for career homeruns with 17. Gleason has six this season and ties Jackie Kupka (1997-99) on the all-time list. Earlier in the week, Gleason became the Chargers all-time leader in appearances with 116 and last week she became the UNH leader in career strikeouts and currently has the record of 716.
Walter and Garland each tallied two hits and three RBI, while Gleason added two hits and two RBI. Bannon went a perfect 3-for-3 in game two, with one run and one RBI. Gabby Cruz added two hits and a RBI as well.
Gleason pitched five and 2/3 innings and gave up no earned runs in her 27th win of the season. She also struck out nine-of-20 batters and allowed only three hits.
The Chargers still have a shot at the NE-10 regular season title, but need some help from a few other teams. Le Moyne, who currently stands on top of the NE-10 standings with a 19-3 conference record, needs to drop five of their last six games for New Haven to steal the title and No. 1 seed. Whether they lose five or not, the Chargers have still earned the opportunity to host a Northeast-10 Conference opening round single elimination game on Wednesday, April 29 in West Haven. A complete bracket will be announced on Monday night when the conference schedule concludes.
Box Score - Game One
Box Score - Game Two
