Game 1 Statistics
Game 2 Statistics
Photo Gallery

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Lizzie Brytowski and Mo Kinsella combined for a four-hit, no-walks shutout, with the aid of timely defensive plays around them, as the University of New England secured a key Conference of New England (CNE) softball triumph over Roger Williams University, 2-0, at Nor'easter Diamond on Saturday (Apr. 25). The opposite result occurred in the opener of the doubleheader, with the Hawks claiming a 2-0 decision.

With hits hard to come by throughout the day, Hannah Irons led all players with three for the Nor'easters (13-19, 7-9 CNE), who managed to snap a 10-game skid. Irons is now 8-for-11 with five walks over her last five outings. UNE takes to the road on Sunday against the University of Hartford.

The Hawks (18-10, 10-6) received a couple of hits on the afternoon from both Hailey Williams and Madison Tucholski.

Brytowski avoided a bump in the road early in GAME 2 (UNE 2-0), as RWU landed a pair of soft, two-out singles in the 3rd. The Nor'easters then did some two-out work of their own in the bottom of the inning, as Irons battled to club a double into the left-center gap [Watch], and Emma Michaud dropped a bloop spinner into shallow left field for another double that gave the hosts a 1-0 lead [Watch].

Tucholski sliced a triple inside the right field line to start the visitors in the 5th. However, Irons spotted that Tucholski broke for home on the ensuing grounder, and a rundown involving Delaney Whitten, Zofia Twarog, and Brytowski ended with a tag in front of the plate. Meanwhile, the batter took second base but rounded too far, as Brytwoski alertly fired it out to Michaud for the big double play [Watch]. After three pitches off of the plate to the next player, Brytowski flashed the leather to snag a sharply-batted ball to get out of the frame unscathed [Watch].

A single by Elise Connor began UNE's 5th, and pinch runner Sam Kowalick moved to second on a sacrifice. Once Irons drew a free pass in the longest at-bat of the contest (8 pitches), Michaud delivered again with a single up the middle, sending Kowalick motoring for an important insurance run [Watch].

RWU's Kayleigh O'Connor was less-than-welcoming to Kinsella's entry into the match in the 6th, with a ground-rule double to left-center for her second hit, and a hit-by-pitch followed to put two aboard. But the Nor'easters survived the moment by getting the Hawks to popout/flyout to advance to the 7th, when it took only seven pitches for UNE to seal it. No balls left the infield as Kinsella polished off the save; Twarog needed to plant in foul territory to fire across the diamond for the second out [Watch], and Irons scooped a check-swing pop behind the circle on the run to finish it off [Watch].

Between Irons and Twarog, the left side of the infield factored in 10 of the 21 outs. Brytowski's third win of the season included two strikeouts, and two tidy innings of 10 pitches or less. It was UNE's fourth shutout of the year, and the third time the Nor'easters did not issue a walk.

Keira Quardros absorbed the loss in the circle for Roger Williams, yielding six hits and one walk while fanning six.

Both sides had left a few runners on base through four innings of GAME 1 (RWU 2-0), as hurlers Raegen Germano of the Hawks and UNE's Kara MacDonald were largely effective, despite some higher pitch counts. In the top of the 5th, Williams produced a one-out double that converted a leadoff single and steal into a 1-0 edge.

MacDonald battled to a 12-pitch strikeout of Williams in the 7th, but, two batters later, following a Lucy Maurao single, Shannon Starratt doubled home another run for the visiting squad. MacDonald's second strikeout held Starratt at third to keep the margin at two, and UNE got a runner to second with one away in its last chance, but could not get on the scoreboard.

Germano fanned eight against just one hit, three walks, and one hit-by-pitch. Maurao had a game-best two hits for Roger Williams.

Irons tallied the lone single off of Germano in the 3rd stanza and made it further than any other Nor'easter on the base paths, with a steal and wild pitch.