Loretto, Pa. (April 20, 2022)—In a matchup of the top two teams in the Northeast Conference standings, Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis U split a doubleheader at the SFU Softball Field today.  The Mount earned a 2-1 win in the opening game before the Red Flash posted a 5-2 win in the night cap.

With today's results, Saint Francis stays on top of the NEC standings with a 12-2 league mark while the Mount remains in second at 13-4.

In the opening game, Brianna Manni drove in both runs while Berkley tossed a complete-game four-hitter to pace the Mount to a 2-1 victory.

The Mount (21-16, 13-4 NEC) had the first chance to score, loading the bases with one out against SFU starter Grace Vesco.  Manni and Godde opened the inning with back-to-back base hits.  After an out, the duo pulled off a double steal to put a pair of runners in scoring position.  Vesco was able to escape the jam with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the game scoreless.

Mount St. Mary's broke through with a run in the top of the fourth.  Vanessa Martin reached on an error with one out and pinch runner Julia Vincent stole second to move into scoring position.  Maggie Kane put runners at the corners with an infield single, and Manni brought home Vincent with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt for a 1-0 Mount lead.

The Mount added a key insurance run in the top of the sixth inning.  Martin doubled to left field, moved to third on a Kane sacrifice bunt, and scored on a Manni groundout to shortstop.

Saint Francis (26-14, 12-2 NEC) cut into the Mount advantage with a run in the bottom of the sixth.  The Red Flash had the bases loaded with two outs after a pair of singles and a walk.  Jordan Frank then hit a slow grounder to third for an infield single to bring home the run to make it 2-1.  Berkley was able to get the final out on a fly out to left.  She then set the Red Flash down in order in the bottom of the seventh to earn the complete-game victory.

Berkley struck out five while allowing just four hits and a walk in the win to improve to 10-6 on the season.  The Mount had five stolen bases in the game, including two from leadoff hitter Perry.  Vesco finished with six strikeouts while allowing five hits and one earned run for Saint Francis in the loss.

In game two, Saint Francis jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 5-2 victory.  Kaia Bonshock and Martin each had a pair of hits for the Mount in the game.

Saint Francis took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning.  Olivia Ulam and Ashley Wruble singles had runners on first and third with two outs.  Mount starter Olivia Murphy was able to get Lauren Aubry to pop the ball up between the pitching circle and home plate, but it fell in between three players for a base hit.  Ulam came home on the hit, and then an error on the throw home allowed Wruble to make it 2-0.

The Red Flash added to the lead with back-to-back home runs from Marsden and Ulam in the fourth inning.  The Mount answered with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to slice the deficit in half.  Martin and Kane recorded back-to-back singles with Kane stealing second to put two runners in scoring position.  Perry drove the pair in with a two-out base hit to make it 4-2.  SFU added a run in the bottom of the sixth for the final score of 5-2.

Murphy allowed four runs (two earned) in four innings of work while Avery Neuhart allowed one run in two innings of relief.

The teams complete the three-game series with a single game at noon tomorrow.