LORETTO, Pa. (Apr. 3, 2008) – The Saint Francis softball team came within inches of victory in Game 1, and then suffered a tough defeat in the final inning of Game 2 as Bucknell spoiled the home opener for the Red Flash with a pair of wins, 5-3 and 11-2, on Thursday at the Red Flash Softball Field.
Trailing 5-3, junior Richele Hall (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) hit a blast to left field with runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 2. However, Bison leftfielder Lauren Fry caught the ball while leaning against the outfield fence, taking a possible walk-off home run away from Hall and SFU.
In Game 2, Saint Francis rallied for two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead. With darkness on the horizon and two groundouts to start the top of the fifth inning, the Red Flash looked to be in good shape. But a hit-by-pitch and walk brought clean-up hitter Erin Curatola to the plate, and she hit a three-run homer to centerfield to give Bucknell a 3-2 lead. The Bison then kept their rally going with singles, three walks and another three-run home run by Mary Pavlovich in scoring all 11 runs in the fifth inning.
The Bison jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the top of the fifth inning in Game 1, but the Red Flash began to chip away. Junior Kara Stroup (Valencia, Pa. / Mars) belted a two-run single through the right side to plate sophomore Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) and senior Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights). Stroup drove in all three SFU runs in the game after belting an opposite field solo homer with one out in the seventh inning. It was her Northeast Conference-leading sixth long ball of the season. It also tied her single-season career high. Juniors Nicole Waligora (Johnstown, Pa. / Westmont Hilltop) and Kelly Slingwine (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) then worked back-to-back walks and then moved to third and second, respectively, on a groundout. But Saint Francis' attempt at a comeback ended with Fry's catch in left field to end the game.
Stroup paced the SFU offense in the game with two hits and three RBIs, while Cortese also had two singles and a run scored, and sophomore Stephanie Griffin (Dupont, Pa. / Pittston Area) added two singles. Junior Laura Caldwell (Bellefonte, Pa. / Bellefonte) suffered the loss while striking out three in 7.0 innings.
The Red Flash jumped on the board first in the second game. After three and a half scoreless innings of ball, Slingwine led off with a single and went to second on a drag bunt by Griffin. Hall was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Slingwine scored on a wild pitch and Griffin came home on a sacrifice fly by freshman Erin Finlay (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada / Cardinal Newman) to make it 2-0. But SFU couldn't hold down the Bucknell offense in the fifth inning.
Slingwine had two singles and scored a run for Saint Francis, while Griffin added the only other hit. Sophomore Jerrica Smith (Breezewood, Pa. / Everett) suffered the loss in giving up five runs on five hits in 4.2 innings.
