Rebecca Cessna tossed the first no-hitter by a Chestnut Hill College Women's Softball pitcher in the program's NCAA division II history as the Griffins defeated the University of Valley Forge 11-0 in five innings in the first game Tuesday at the Fastpitch Dreams spring Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
In game two, Izabella Rodriguez delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Griffins to a 4-3 win over Albion College.
The Griffins are now 4-6 overall.
Cessna needed just 71 pitches to complete her no hitter. The freshman pitcher struck out ten UVF batters and walked three to improve to 1-1 on the season.
Jenn Pokropinski hit her first home run as a Griffin, a two-run inside the park blast and added two singles to finish with a 3-for-3 effort and three RBI. Amaris Guzman, Kayla Rolon, Anna Coulter and Brynn Pollard also had hits for the Griffins.
Pokropinski's inside-the-park home run to right field started the scoring in a six run first inning by the Griffins. Coulter reached on an error to plate two more runs with two out and Pollard then singled to score Coulter and later scored herself for a 6-0 Griffins lead.
Rolon added an RBI single in the second inning and Pokropinski notched her third RBI with two outs in the third. Guzman brought hone Giselle McLaughlin on a fielder's choice and another UVF error scored Pokropinski and Guzman to round out the scoring.
In the nightcap, Rodriguez delivered three hits and drove in two of the Griffins' four runs, including the game winner in her last at-bat. Christina Contreras had two hits while Alauna Kelley and Anastasia Watson drove in a run apiece.
Isabelle Tetreault pitched the complete game, allowing three runs (two earned) on ten hits while walking one to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Albion scored twice in their first at-bat to take a 2-0 lead. With the Griffins evening the score in the bottom half of the first inning. Rodriguez tripled with one out to score Contreras with CHC's first run and later scored on Watson's infield single to tie the game at 2-2.
The Griffins took a 3-2 lead on Kelley's sacrifice fly in the third with Albion tying the score in the top of the fourth. Tetreault allowed just two base runners the rest of the way as the game remained tied heading into the seventh inning.
Guzman and Rolon led off the bottom of the seventh inning with back-to-back singles. After the next two batters recorded outs, Rodriguez delivered a line drive single into centerfield to score Guzman with the winning run.
The women's softball team is back in action on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 for their final games of their spring trip, traveling to Richmond Virginia take on the Virginia Union University Panthers.
