WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.-The Monmouth softball team faced off against top-ranked Northeast Conference foe Central Connecticut State University on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks won game one 1-0 in 10 innings, and took the second game with a score of 5-2. Monmouth is now 23-12 and 10-4 in conference play, while CCSU is 21-12 and 11-3 in conference.

Game one saw senior Lauren Sulick (Canfield, Ohio) go the full 10 innings and tally six strikeouts, three hits and one walk, and freshman Cerissa Rivera (Westminster, Calif./Fountain Valley) went five innings in game two. She tallied three strikeouts, four hits and two runs. Senior Jordan Barnett (Eads, Colo./Eads [Garden City CC]) went the last two innings to pick up the save. Both Sulick and Rivera are 8-4 on the season.

For the Blue Devils, sophomore Lauren Messina went 9.1 innings and accumulate 12 strikeouts, seven hits, two walks and one earned run. She also went game two and had three strikeouts, nine hits and two walks. She is the only CCSU pitcher to pitch in conference games, and has 157.2 innings pitched on the season.

Senior Kayla Weiser (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) went 2-4 in game one, and senior Tish Derer (Philadelphia, Pa./Saint Basil Academy) went 1-5 with the lone run. Junior Kaitie Schumacher (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) went 1-5 with one RBI. In game two, Schumacher went 2-4 with one RBI, and Weiser went 2-3 with one run. Junior Alicia DeSanto (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) went 1-3 with one run in game two. Senior Christine Scherr (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth Area) went 1-3 with one RBI in game two.

In the bottom of the 10th inning of game one, Derer was placed on second. She scored on a Schumacher single up the middle. In the bottom of the first inning in game two, Derer singled to third base. A single by DeSanto down the left field line moved Derer to second. While Schumacher was up to bat, both Derer stole third and DeSanto stole second.

Schumacher singled and batted Derer across home, giving the Hawks the early 1-0 advantage. The next at-bat saw Weiser single to the pitcher, and reach second on a throwing error by Messina. This pushed DeSanto across home, extending the lead to two runs. Scherr then doubled and brought Weiser home from second, giving Monmouth the 3-0 lead before the inning ended.

In the top of the second, left fielder Evie Rentzel tripled to right center, and scored on a throwing error by Derer, giving Central Connecticut State their first run of the day. In the top of the third, center fielder Kat Malcolm homered to left center, cutting the Blue Devils' deficit to 3-2. In the bottom of the sixth inning, sophomore Vanessa Cardoza (Santa Ana, Calif./Ocean View) singled to right field, then stole second while freshman Nikki Sandelier (Turnersville, N.J./Washington Township) was up to bat.

Sandelier reached first on a fielding error by Malcolm. Sophomore Kayleena Flores (Atwater, Calif./Buhach Colony) singled to third base, moving Cardoza to third and Sandelier to second. Derer drew the bases-loaded walk and gave the Hawks the 4-2 lead. Freshman Raelynn Galindo (Yorba Linda, Calif./Yorba Linda) grounded out to first base, but scored Sandelier and gave Monmouth the 5-2 lead and winning score.

The Hawks return home on Wednesday, April 17 at 3:00 p.m. for a non-conference doubleheader against Temple University.