STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Apr. 6, 2008) – The Saint Francis softball team broke out with nine runs and 11 hits to win the back end of Sunday's doubleheader at Wagner, 9-6, to earn its first Northeast Conference victory of the season.

The Red Flash suffered a tough 4-0 loss in Game 1 of the twinbill.

SFU improved to 9-23 on the year, and 1-3 in the NEC. The Flash will travel to NEC front runner Long Island for a doubleheader beginning at Noon on Monday. The games were originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, but were postponed due to weather.

After junior Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights) scored on a wild pitch, junior Kelly Slingwine (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) slapped her second home run of the season, a two-run shot, to right field to give the Red Flash an early 3-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2.

Freshman Erin Finlay (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada / Cardinal Newman) and Bender had back-to-back RBI singles, and junior Kara Stroup (Valencia, Pa. / Mars) added an two-run triple to make it 7-0 in the fourth inning.

Leading 7-3, Bender and junior Janelle McCoy (New Paris, Pa. / Chestnut Ridge) had RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to give SFU a 9-3 lead.

Victoria Batistelli hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut Saint Francis' lead to 9-6, but the Seahawks mustered no further offense off sophomore Jerrica Smith (Breezewood, Pa. / Everett), who picked up the win in 4.0 innings of work in relief.

Bender was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, a sacrifice bunt, a stolen base and two RBIs in the game, Slingwine was 2-for-4 and McCoy had a career high four hits in four at-bats.

Jaclyn Vanore hit a two-run home run to spark the Seahawks to a 4-0 victory in Game 1. The Red Flash mustered five hits in the game, two coming from Bender.