BUFFALO, N.Y. – Kelly Hickman (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) registered a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to lift Mount St. Mary's past Canisius 8-6 in a non-conference softball doubleheader on Thursday. The Golden Griffins won the opener 1-0 in 10 innings.

With one out and pinch runner Courtney Mason (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) on third base, Hickman took the first offering she saw through the left side to plate Mason with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

Chloe Mizianty (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad) went 4-for-5 in the second game with two RBIs. Cat Clifford (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) added four hits, three RBIs and her fifth home run of the season for the Mount (10-23) while Nicole Pagano (Berlin, N.J./St. Joseph) took the loss in the opener despite allowing one run on five hits with 13 strikeouts in 9.1 innings pitched.

Robin Kennery posted three hits and three RBIs on the day including knocking in the lone run in the opener for Canisius (6-20) and Lizzy Gatto had two homers and four RBIs in the nightcap.

In the second game, Mount St. Mary's jumped out to the advantage before the Golden Griffins scored a run in the seventh and then the Mount won the game in the eighth.

Clifford started the eighth with a single up the middle and Mason came on to pinch run for Clifford. The sophomore moved to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch. After Erin Leddy (Great Mills, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) walked, Hickman served the first pitch in between the 5-6 hole for the go-ahead run. Mizianty added an insurance run with a run-scoring single through the left side for an 8-6 victory.

Mount St. Mary's jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game in the first inning. Taylor Beebe (Olympia, Wash./Capital) walked and Liz Christiansen (Etters, Pa./Red Land) singled before Clifford smacked the 1-2 pitch over the center field fence for her fifth round tripper of the season.

Gatto drilled a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to trim the margin to 3-2.

The Mount responded in the second with two runs to restore a three-run lead. Maria Santiago (Buena, N.J./Buena Regional) singled through the left side and stole second before Beebe doubled to right center to plate Santiago. Leddy brought Beebe home on an opposite field base hit through the right side to hand the Mountaineers a 5-2 margin.

Alexa Tuck (Chester, Va./Thomas Dale) singled to center field, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Mizianty's RBI single to left field to give the Mountaineers a four-run lead in the fifth.

Canisius scored three times in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 6-5. Gatto hit a sacrifice fly to right field and Kennery doubled home two runs in the stanza.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh and a 1-2 count, Gatto smacked a home run to left field to send the game into extra innings and to set up Hickman's pinch-hit base hit to give Mount St. Mary's the victory.

Amanda Sadowl (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) pitched the first five innings and allowed three runs on six hits with one strikeout. Danni Cummings (Owings, Md./Northern) tossed the final three innings and allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts to pick up the victory.

The first game was a pitcher's duel that last nearly 10 innings. Katie Lancellotti opened the 10th with a triple and touched home on Kennery's run-scoring single to left center for the game's lone run in a 1-0 win for the Golden Griffins.

Pagano was impressive again on the mound for Mount St. Mary's. The redshirt sophomore allowed a hit in the fourth and had the one-hitter going through seven innings. Canisius had a hit in the eighth and three in the decisive 10th.

Mount St. Mary's best chances to score were the fourth and the sixth in the opener. In the fourth Christiansen and Clifford each walked with two outs and moved up a base on a wild pitch, but a ground out ended the threat. Holly Buckel (Finksburg, Md./North Carroll) singled up the middle with one out and moved to second on Santiago's sacrifice bunt. After Christiansen singled through the left side to move Buckel to third, a foul out ended the threat. The Mountaineers put a runner on first in the seventh and the ninth, but each time could not move the runner.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action at Niagara on Friday. Game time is 1 p.m.