Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – Julie Marks and Laura Messina limited the Norfolk State softball team to just three total runs on the day to give Central Connecticut State a pair of wins over the Spartans Tuesday afternoon, 6-3 and 6-0, at the NSU Softball Field.

Marks pitched a solid seven innings in Game 1, allowing just two earned runs over that time frame on six hits. Messina, meanwhile, walked one and gave up just three hits in a seven-inning shutout in Game 2. NSU (9-13) dropped its fourth straight game to CCSU after a doubleheader on Monday, while the Blue Devils improved to 14-7 overall.

Leadoff hitter Arielle Bruno added a pair of hits in each game to lead the Blue Devil offense, while Rebecca Mussatti hit 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in the second contest. CCSU pounded out 24 hits on the afternoon.

Freshman Liz Riley pitched well in relief in both games, combining to give up just two earned runs in eight innings of work. She improved her ERA to 1.44 over her last 12 appearances.

The Blue Devils put a four-spot on the board in the top of the second to chase sophomore starter Jamie Schulle in Game 1. Nicole Springer singled to start the inning and Kelsey Barlow doubled to the left field fence to put runners in scoring position. A wild pitch brought the first run home, and after Schulle issued a walk, Macy Stefanski singled into left center to make it 2-0.

Riley came in and got the first two outs of the inning before Arielle Bruno singled just past her glove and into center field for a 4-0 lead. All four runs and the loss were charged to Schulle, who gave up three hits in one-plus inning of work.

NSU got one of the runs back in the third, as sophomore Morgan Boyd reached base on a bunt single and later scored from third when freshman Alina Moriarty took off for second and got caught in a rundown.

Barlow hit an RBI single to the center field wall in the fifth to score a run, and then the Blue Devils plated another in the sixth when Ashley Black came home from first on a base hit to left field that rolled underneath the glove of Marjorie Pettitt.

Down 6-1, NSU cut into the deficit with two runs in the sixth. Freshman Haley Ward hit a double to the wall in right center to lead things off and took third on a wild pitch. Moriarty's sac fly to center brought home Ward, and then junior Gipsy Ramirez followed with a single to center. Marks got a piece of senior Whitney Holland's hit with her glove in the next at bat, but the ball deflected past the shortstop to put runners on first and second.

Ramirez and Holland moved up into scoring position on a wild pitch, and freshman Whittni Gray lofted a fly ball toward the right field line for a sac fly to score Ramirez and cut the deficit to three. Marks, though, shut down the Spartans for the rest of the game to earn the win.

Riley allowed seven hits and two runs, one earned, with four strikeouts in six relief innings in Game 1. Marks (2-1) pitched a solid complete game, giving up six hits and three runs, two earned, with two strikeouts.

In Game 2, Bruno doubled with one out in the third to start a two-run rally for the Blue Devils and came home for the first run of the game when Mussatti lined one back up the middle. A groundout moved Mussatti to third after Riley entered the game in the circle, and Springer brought her home when she lofted a base hit into left.

Another error on NSU put runners on first and third before Riley got Alyssa McCoart to pop up to second.

Tessa Brown's RBI single in the fifth made it 3-0, and the Blue Devils threatened later in the inning after Schulle re-entered the game. Stefanski, though, popped up to the circle and pinch runner Lauren Alibozek got caught too far off third on the play to end the inning.

The Spartans had their best chance to score in the fifth when Pettitt and sophomore catcher Kathy Cortez reached on back-to-back errors to start the frame. NSU, however, failed to advance the runners with no outs. After Pettitt and Cortez reached base, Messina retired the last nine batters of the game.

An RBI single from Mussatti and a sac fly from Brown plated two more runs in the sixth, and Vlahos' RBI single in the seventh completed the scoring for CCSU.

Messina struck out five in the shutout win to improve to 8-3 on the year. Schulle suffered both losses to fall to 5-6 on the year. Ward was the only Spartan player with two hits on the day.

NSU will stay home and begin conference play Saturday against Coppin State in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at the NSU Softball Field.