BALTIMORE, Md. - Beth Everist (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) knocked in eight runs to help Mount St. Mary's split a pair of games at the UMBC Softball Spring Classic on Saturday. The Mount (12-8) defeated Niagara 15-7 in the opener before Lehigh rallied to down the Mountaineers 11-8 in the nightcap.

Everist paced the Mount with two hits, five RBIs and two runs scored against the Purple Eagles (5-7) while Erin Leddy (Great Mills, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) added three hits, five RBIs and a run scored. Everist added a hit and three RBIs against the Mountain Hawks (7-6) while Liz Christiansen (Etters, Pa./Red Land) went 2-for-4 in the nightcap with four RBIs and a run scored.

Trailing 4-2 in the opener against Niagara, Mount St. Mary's scored 10 unanswered runs to grab the lead for good at 12-4.

Lisa Curreri (Clinton, N.J./North Hunterdon) started the rally with her second home run of the season in the third before Reeder tied the game with a single up the middle to plate Katie Donovan (Seabrook, Md./St. Vincent Palotti) to knot the game at 4.

Chloe Mizanty (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad) gave the Mount the lead for good when she reached on an infield single in the fourth and came around to score on a wild pitch for a 5-4 lead.

The Mountaineers then exploded for seven runs in the fifth. Amanda Buckel (Finksburg, Md./North Carroll) opened the inning with a double, Nicole Reeder (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) singled up the middle and Jenna Zimmerman (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) walked to load the bases for Leddy, who belt a grand slam for her first collegiate home run and hand Mount St. Mary's a 9-4 lead. The Mount then loaded the bases again before Everist walked with the bases full to force home Courtney Zingle (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and then Curreri and Christiansen each touched home to cap the seven-run outburst.

The Purple Eagles came back to score three runs in the fifth to trim the deficit to 12-7. Teresa Healy homered before Maggie McDonald knocked in a run on a double and then stole home for Niagara's three runs.

Everist then capped her five-RBI game with a three run home run to seal Mount St. Mary's 15-7 victory against the Purple Eagles.

The Mount took a 2-0 lead in the contest in the top of the second inning when Everist belted her first round tripper of the day. Zimmerman then singled to shortstop and came around on Leddy's RBI double.

Niagara answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-2 lead. Gabrielle Lustrinelli brought home three runs on her three-run homer before Kristin Kill scored on an error, but the Mountaineers scored 10 unanswered runs to come away with their first win against the Purple Eagles in four tries.

In the nightcap, Mount St. Mary's jumped out to a 7-0 advantage, but Lehigh registered 11 of the final 12 runs to come away with an 11-8 victory.

Down 7-0, the Mountain Hawks scored six times in the top of the third inning to cut the deficit to 7-6. Jennifer Colquhoun started the rally with a two-run single to right field before Jacqi Kennelly and Lauren Eichblatt walked and with the bases loaded to bring the third and fourth runs home. Sam Miller singled and Audra Wood reached on a fielder's choice to trim the margin to one run.

Lehigh then took the lead with three runs in the fourth. Kennelly tied the game with an RBI double down the left field line before Eichblatt gave the Mountain Hawks the lead for good on a two-run single to left field for a 9-7 advantage.

Mount St. Mary's cut the margin to 9-8 in the bottom of the inning after Zingle singled up the middle and Christiansen plated the junior with an RBI up the middle.

Lehigh sealed the victory with two runs in the seventh to come away with the 11-8 win.

The Mount jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. After Zingle singled to right center and Curreri was hit by the pitch, Christiansen belted a three-run homer.

The Mountaineers added to its lead with four runs in the second. Zimmerman walked to lead off the inning before Leddy reached on a bunt single. Zingle plated Zimmerman on a fielder's choice and then Everist doubled to left center to plate Curreri, Zingle and Leddy for a 7-0 advantage. Lehigh then scored nine unanswered runs and went on for the victory.

With her two home runs, Everist moved into eighth place with eight homers while Curreri sits in 10th place with seven long balls.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Sunday in the final day of the UMBC Spring Classic. The Mount will face Georgetown at 10:40 a.m. and host UMBC at 4:25 p.m. The schedule was revised after Saturday's game took longer than expected and could not fit all the games in during the day.