REVERE, Mass. – In a back-and-forth game, Suffolk softball managed to sneak away with the Conference of New England (CNE) victory as Roma Braid hit a walk-off, one-run base hit to take down Hartford, 6-5, in game one of a double feature at Peter Papasodora Field at Griswold Park.   

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 6 | Hartford 5
RECORDS: Suffolk (15-13, 6-5 CNE) | Hartford (14-13, 7-6 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hawks flew on the bottom in the top of the third. A walk, stolen base, single and a fielding mishap by Suffolk put runners on second and third for Hartford. Katrina Baran laid down a bunt to bring the first run of the day in. Alyssa Edwards' one-run single through the left side followed suit to put the Rams in two-run hole. 
• Suffolk had a chance to respond in the home half of the third as Braid, Jolie Quintana and Ava Lanza all singled to juice the bags, but the next three batters went down in order to keep the 2-0 advantage in Hartford's favor.
• A blue-and-gold answer came in the bottom of the fourth. Kendal Heyman laced a one-out double to center field and moved over to third courtesy of Sara Butera's base hit right over first base. Braid took notes from the Hawks as she placed a bunt in play that allowed Heyman to slid into home and trim the distance to 2-1.  
• Hartford restored its two-run upperhand in the top of the fifth. With two outs Gia Miccio singled to third and swiped second to get into scoring position for Anita Farkash. Farkash traded places with Miccio behind a double to left that gave the visitors a 3-1 lead. 
• Suffolk leveled the playing field in bottom of the fifth. The Rams had all the ducks in the pond with two outs when Heyman sauntered to the plate. The freshman barreled her second two-bagger of the game and this time brought two runs around in the process to knot things at 3-3. 
• The back-and-forth carried into the top of the sixth has Hartford put up two runs and the Rams answered with two of their own. Once again, the blue-and-gold's offense came with two outs. Ava Lanza singled down the third base line and put on her running shoes when Dana Still doubled to right center. Still then scored the tying run thanks to Catherine Carignan's single to center to send the game into the seventh even at 5-all. 
• Suffolk managed to hold Hartford in the top of the seventh despite a pair of Hawks in scoring position. 
• Claire Basadula led off with a single up the middle and Charis Fenter took her spot on the bags. The pinch runner used a sac bunt by Heyman to take second and moved up 60 feet on Butera's base hit to right. Braid put on her hero cape when she singled through the left side to bring in the game-winning run. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Cynthia Rucinski registered the win behind a five-run, 11-hit, five-walk, seven-strikeout, complete-game effort. 
• Gracie Hopkins took the loss as she gave up three runs on six hits and one punchout through 1.1 innings out of the pen. 
• Carly Mayhood started for the Hawks and put together a three-run, six-hit, four-walk, five-strikeout performance over 5.0 innings. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Braid registered a 2-for-3 effort with two RBI.
• Heyman went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, one run scored and one sac. 
• Lanza logged a 2-for-3 effort as well with one run. 
• Still supplied two runs, two walks, one hit, a double, and one RBI. 
• Butera added two hits. 
• Mills and Fenter scored one run apiece. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk moved to 3-2 all-time against the Hawks. 
• The Rams defeated Hartford for the second straight meeting. 
• Suffolk is now 2-1 as the home team versus Hartford. 
• Still stretched her hit streak to a dozen games. In that span she has 17 hits. The freshman tied a personal-best two doubles. 
• Basadula has produced hits in back-to-back games. 
• Heyman matched a career-high two hits. 
• Butera set a personal-best two hits. 
• Braid tied a career-high two hits and brought in a personal-best two runs.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk aims to sweep Hartford in the nightcap this afternoon.