NAPLES, Fla. - The Western Connecticut State University softball squad split a pair of games on Thursday during its Florida trip. The Wolves downed Lesley University, 14-8, before being edged by the University of Wisconsin-Superior, 3-2, later in the day. 

Senior Sydney Chenoweth (Baldwinville, Mass.) drove in three runs to lead WestConn in the opener against Lesley. Graduate student shortstop Charline Plasczynski (Bristol, Conn.) and sophomore Alexis Resto (Shelton, Conn.) also knocked in two runs apiece. 

Resto got things started when she stroked a single to center field to push two runners across the plate. Moments later, Chenoweth extended the lead to 3-0 with an RBI ground out. Resto then stole home to stretch it to 4-0.

Lesley chipped away at the advantage, cutting it to 4-3 in the fourth. However, the Wolves responded with four runs in the top of the fifth to jump ahead 8-3. Senior infielder Rachael Ushka (Southbury, Conn.) scored on a wild pitch to begin the flurry before Resto touched the plate on yet another errant pitch later in the frame to round out the spurt. Lesley wouldn't go quietly as they countered with a trio of runs in the bottom half to shrink the margin to 8-6. But WestConn bounced right back with another four-spot in the top of the sixth. Plasczynski ignited the barrage with an RBI single to left. Shortly thereafter, Resto came around to score on a throw attempt, extending the lead to 12-6. The squads exchanged a pair of runs in the ensuing inning to wrap it up at 14-8. 

The second matchup of the day against Wisconsin-Superior was more of a defensive battle. Wisconsin opened the game with a pair of runs to seize an early 2-0 lead. The Wolves answered when Resto smacked a sacrifice fly to score Ushka in the fourth. They knotted the count at 2-2 in the fifth when Ushka notched an RBI single. However, Wisconsin tallied the game-winning run courtesy of a WestConn throwing error in the sixth to escape with the win.

With the split, WestConn moved to 5-5 overall. They return to action to conclude the Spring trip tomorrow when they match up against Crown College at 9 a.m. before meeting the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford later in the day.