Hackensack, N.J. (April 10, 2021)—Mount St. Mary's forged a split of today's Northeast Conference doubleheader at Fairleigh Dickinson with a 9-7 win in the second game.  The Knights held the Mount off the scoreboard in a 3-0 victory in the opening game of the twinbill.

The Mount (12-19, 5-8 NEC) scored six times in the top of the third inning to take control of the second game before holding on for a 9-7 victory.  Shelbee Holcomb had a season-high three hits in the win while Kaia Bonshock went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles.

In the third, Holcomb started things off with a single to left before Kirsten Mumma walked to put runners on first and second.  Mariah Godde moved the runners up a base with a sacrifice and Kaylee Stoner's single to left put the Mount on top, 1-0.  Stoner stole second, and Abigayle Perry's squeeze bunt plated Mumma for a 2-0 advantage.  Bonshock followed with an RBI double off the fence and Tori Bowles singled up the middle to stretch the advantage to four runs.  Elizabeth King walked and Zoe Wilcox was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Holcomb, who singled for the second time in the inning for a 5-0 lead.  Mumma was hit by a pitch to force home the final run in the frame.

The Knights (2-14, 2-12 NEC) struck back with four runs in the bottom of the third to get right back into the game.  Cassidy Trsiska's two-run homer capped the four-run outburst.

The Mount added three insurance runs in the top of the sixth to make it a 9-4 ballgame.  Bonshock singled to open the inning and King singled to shortstop to put runners on first and second.  Amanda Berkley pinch hit and doubled to left center field to bring home pinch runner Julia Vincent.  Kassidy Johnson pinch hit and singled to left to stretch the lead to 9-4.

The Knights made things interestingwith three runs in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back two-out doubles by Courtney Mahoney and Madison Emerson, but Mount starter Avery Neuhart, who exited the game after the sixth, re-entered and got the final out.

In addition to Bonshock and Holcomb's three-hit games, Stoner added a pair of hits as the Mount pounded out 13 hits in the victory.  Neuhart allowed four runs in 6.1 innings to pick up the victory.

In the opening game, FDU's Alayna Savaglio proved to be the difference, striking out 15 in the complete-game shutout victory while also going 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI.

The Knights scored twice in the third and one more time in the fourth for the only runs of the game.  In the third, Summer Medonza singled, moved to second on a sacrifice, and Madison Emerson's base hit put runners on the corners with one out.  Emerson stole second, but Mount starter Berkley got a fly out for the second out of the inning.  Savaglio then singled to right to bring home both runners for the 2-0 lead.  Riley Phillips scored from second on a Mahoney base hit to push the advantage to three.

Stoner went 1-for-3 with a stolen base while Abigayle Perry, Bowles and Godde added the other Mount hits in the game.  Berkley allowed the three runs and 10 hits in the complete-game effort.

Tomorrow's doubleheader has been postponed due to the weather forecast.  The Mount is back in action on Tuesday, April 13, with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader against Saint Francis U to begin a four-game NEC series.