BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Led by critical contributions from a trio of players fighting to extend their LIU Brooklyn careers, the Blackbirds earned a pair of thrilling 5-4 victories over Central Connecticut on Saturday afternoon to improve to 10-6 in Northeast Conference softball action and secure a berth into the upcoming NEC Tournament in Moon Township, Pa., on May 7-10.
 
Senior Nicole Archer threw an incredible 217 pitches over 11.2 innings of work to earn a pair of victories in the circle, while Madison Green and Lauren Morizi made a slew of sparkling defensive plays in the middle of the infield and drilled a combined three home runs off reigning NEC Pitcher of the Year Laura Messina to help lead the offense.
 
GAME ONE
Posed with the task of winning twice against Messina, who entered the game with a miniscule 0.84 ERA and an even more impressive 0.64 ERA in NEC play, LIU nearly broke the seal in the first inning as junior Whitney West worked a leadoff walk.
 
West eventually stole second, then stole third base after CCSU catcher Hannah Cooper attempted a pickoff at second base that West read and broke for third on. Archer followed with a grounder down the third-base line that was stopped by MacKenzie Keyes on a diving play. Keyes got to her knees and threw a one-hopper to Tori Constantin, who made a nice pick to barely get Archer to end the inning.
 
In the top of the third, a walk to Keyes and an error on the Blackbirds put runners on the corners with nobody out for the Blue Devils. Brittany Camara, CCSU's leadoff batter, came to the plate and bounced one to Morizi, who fired home to freshman Victoria Zamora to get the lead runner trying to score.
 
Archer proceeded to strike out the next batter and received a gem of a catch from sophomore Kylie Mulholland to end the inning. Malcolm lined Archer's first pitch with two outs into shallow centerfield, but Mulholland had a beat on it and made a sliding play to close out the threat and keep the game scoreless.
 
The bottom of the inning saw Green record the first hit for the Blackbirds with a line-drive double that split the gap in right-centerfield. Two batters later, Morizi lined a 2-2 pitch into deep left centerfield. CCSU outfielder Kat Malcolm made a great effort on the ball but it tipped off her glove, allowing West to score and Morizi to cruise into second with the 51^st double of her career.
 
Mulholland bumped the lead to 2-0 in the fourth, as she blasted a solo home run over the left-centerfield wall with one out in the inning. Two batters later, Green lined a pitch over the fence in left for a two-run home run to give the Blackbirds a 4-0 lead.
 
Effectively wild throughout the game, Archer held CCSU hitless into the fifth before Katie Schmidt broke up the no-hit bid with a single with one out. A walk to Camara and a bunt single for Black loaded the bases, but the righthander struck Malcolm out on a 3-2 pitch and got a ground out to close the inning.
 
CCSU finally broke through in the sixth, as a hit-by-pitch and two walks loaded the bases with nobody out. An infield single by Keyes drove home the first run, and a groundout by Schmidt put the score at 4-2. After a fielder's choice loaded the bases again, Black fouled out to put two away for Malcolm.
 
The former NEC Player of the Year was hit by a pitch on a 1-1 offering from Archer, pushing home Central's third run of the game and cut the LIU lead to just one. Eileen Purcell stepped to the plate and grounded one up the middle to Morizi, who flipped to Green to nab Malcolm just in time to end the inning.
 
Junior Celinna Cosio led off the sixth with a towering solo home run to provide a much-needed insurance run for the Blackbirds, who would need it in the top of the seventh. After recording the first two outs rather easily, Archer walked Cooper and allowed a single to left field to put a pair on.
 
Sophomore Shelley Procter was summoned from the bullpen and walked the next batter, then allowed a softly-hit infield single from Camara that drove in Cooper and pulled the visitors to within one, 5-4.
 
With the bases still loaded and two down, a line drive off the bat of Black tipped off the glove of freshman Angie Vazquez at third base and looked destined to tie the game. But Morizi alertly backed the play up and picked up the ball trickling behind third base and stepped on the bag just in time for the force out that ended the game in dramatic fashion.

GAME TWO
The second game of the day started off on a down note for LIU Brooklyn, as Haley Cooper opened the scoring in the top of the second inning with an RBI groundout that Green made a tremendous diving stop off to avoid further damage. Archer, who got the start for the second straight game, worked around a one-out double in the third with key strikeout of Malcolm that kept the score at 1-0.

In the bottom of the third, an opposite-field, two-out home run from Morizi tied the game at 1-1. The blast was the first for Morizi this season and the fourth given up by Messina on the day.

CCSU loaded the bases with just one out in the top of the fourth, and eventually scored on a groundout to Morizi at short. The lead jumped to 3-1 in the fifth when three straight singles from Black, Malcolm and Purcell produced a run. With runners on the corners and just one out, Zamora gunned down pinch runner Brittany Ernst trying to steal second. Archer closed out the frame with her third strikeout of the game and 10th of the day to hold the deficit to just two.

The bottom half saw pinch hitter Ashley Sandoval-Colon lead off with a single through the right side. A fielder's choice and strikeout put two down for the Blackbirds in the inning, before West worked a walk to extend the frame for Morizi. After hitting the first home run of her season two innings prior, Morizi continued her power surge by belting Messina's 2-2 pitch over the centerfield wall despite a valiant attempt by Malcolm, who crashed through the breakaway wall on the play.

The three-run blast bumped LIU Brooklyn in front, 4-3, before a walk to Zamora and a three-base error on a routine fly ball by Archer to left nudged the Blackbirds further in front, 5-3. Another walk to Cosio brought Mulholland up, and the sophomore drilled a pitch into right-centerfield that was tracked down by Malcolm at the wall to end LIU's rally.

Central Connecticut did not go down without a fight, however, and led off the sixth with back-to-back singles. The two hits led to a pitching change, and Procter once again came on in relief. A pair of bunts led to a run for the Blue Devils and cut the LIU Brooklyn lead to just one, but the Carlsbad, Calif. native knocked down a hot-shot line drive off the bat of Camara and tossed to first to end the inning and help LIU hang on to the lead.

After a fruitless bottom of the sixth for the Blackbirds, Procter worked around a one-out walk to earn her second straight save and send the Blackbirds to their 28th NEC Tournament in 29 years.