UMBC

WEST HARTFORD, CT - The University of Hartford softball team completed a season sweep over UMBC with a pair of wins Sunday at Al-Marzook Field. The Hawks held on to win the first game 4-3 and produced five runs late in the second game for an 8-3 victory.

Hartford improved to 9-17 overall and 5-6 in the America East. UMBC dropped to 22-29 overall and 1-12 in the conference.

In the first game, Hartford tied the score at 1-1 on an RBI single by freshman Nikki Thompson (West Seneca, NY) in the first. Hout then went deep in the second inning to give the Hawks a 3-1 advantage, and junior Liz Borawski (Buffalo, NY) homered the following inning to tack on another run.

Freshman Nicole McMillon (Vermontville, MI) picked up the win, but not before UMBC made things uncomfortable with two runs in the fifth to make it 4-3. McMillon allowed only one hit over the final two innings to improve to 4-5 overall. She gave up three earned runs on six hits and struck out two over seven innings.

Hartford jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second game. Thompson blasted her team-leading fourth homer of the season to get things going in the second inning, and Hout added an RBI double to make it 2-0. Junior Mallory Rapoza (Assonet, MA) then drove in a run in the third on a double.

UMBC came back with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie the game. Senior Jamie Graves (Fort Ann, NY) worked out of a jams in both innings. The Retrievers had scored their run in the fourth and had runners at second and third with one out before Graves got two groundouts to end the frame. In the fifth, UMBC loaded the bases with nobody out and scored runs
on a pair of sacrifice hits.

The Hawks broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning, highlighted by back-to-back homers by Hout and freshman Michelle Mariano (Seymour, CT). Mariano's home run was the first of her career. Borawski also had an RBI double in the inning, and Graves worked a perfect seventh to improve to 4-6 on the season. She allowed three runs on nine hits while striking out one
over seven innings.