New Britain, Conn. (March 20, 2021)—Mount St. Mary's dropped both games of its Northeast Conference opening doubleheader at Central Connecticut on Saturday. The losses snapped the Mount's win streak at six.
In the opening game, the Mount saw Central Connecticut's Paige Stringer hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to help the Blue Devils rally for a 7-4 victory. In game two, the Blue Devils (2-2, 2-0 NEC) scored three times in the fifth to snap a scoreless tie en route to a 3-1 victory.
The Mount (7-13, 0-2 NEC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first in the opening game of the twinbill. Walks to
Kaylee Stoner and
Tori Bowles along with a
Kaia Bonshock loaded the bases with one out. Freshman
Kassidy Johnson followed with a bases-clearing double to give the Mount the early lead. CCSU fought back with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first to cut the Mount's lead to one.
The Mount maintained the 3-2 lead until the top of the sixth when Bonshock led off theinning with her second home run of the year for a 4-2 advantage. Mount starter
Amanda Berkley retired 13 of 14 batters after allowing the two unearned runs in the first heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Berkley got out of her rhythm in the sixth, walking three batters around a sacrifice bunt to load the bases with one out. Kim Howard then singled for CCSU to cut the Mount's lead to 4-3, setting the stage for Stringer, who belted a grand slam to put the Blue Devils on top, 7-4.
Bonshock went 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored to pace the Mount offense in the opening game. Berkley struck out a season-high nine batters in the complete-game loss, allowing five earned runs in six innings.
In the second game, Mount starter
Avery Neuhart and CCSU pitcher Kate Houghton were locked into a pitcher's duel as neither team scored over the first four innings.
In was CCSU's Stringer who started the scoring again, this time hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead. Carli Backlund followed with a double, and Rian Eigenmann's single made it 2-0. An error on the play allowed Eigenmann to come around the bases to score.
Stoner led of the sixth with a double and
Bridgette Gilliano's single got the Mount on the scoreboard. Houghton was able to keep the Mount bats quiet the rest of the way to earn the win.
Neuhart struck out four while allowing two earned runs in the complete-game loss.
