LORETTO, Pa. – Wagner jumped out to a 9-1 lead in Game 1 and held on for a win in handing the Saint Francis softball team a tough doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon at the Red Flash Softball Field.
SFU used a five-run third inning to pull within 9-6 in the first contest, but the offense couldn't complete the comeback in a 10-7 defeat. The Seahawks took a 6-0 lead in taking Game 2, 6-1.
Senior Kelly Slingwine (Gibsonia, PA /Pine Richland) (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine Richland) slugged two home runs and had three RBI to help lead the Red Flash offense in the first game. Wagner scored three runs in the first inning, and Slingwine answered with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning. However, the Seahawks scored three more runs in both the second and third innings to take a 9-1 lead. Slingwine would then spark a five-run rally for the Red Flash when she hit her second home run of the game, a two-run shot, to make it 9-3. Slingwine brought her season total to a team-high nine homers.
Senior Nicole Waligora (Johnstown, PA /Westmont Hilltop) (Johnstown, Pa. / Westmont Hilltop) smashed a three-run, opposite field home run to pull Saint Francis within 9-6. Freshman Courtney Francis (Jefferson, Ohio / Jefferson Area) made it 9-7 with an RBI single in the fifth inning, but the Red Flash left the bases loaded in the from.
Wagner scored an insurance run in the seventh inning to complete the scoring. There were a total of five home runs between the two teams in Game 1.
Slingwine, junior Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, PA/Bishop Shanahan) (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan), senior Kara Stroup (Valencia, PA /Mars) (Valencia, Pa. / Mars), Waligora and junior Jamie Dixon (Revloc, PA /Central Cambria ) (Revloc, Pa. / Central Cambria) had two hits each for SFU.
Andrea Lazzari fell a triple shy of the cycle with four hits and four RBI for the Seahawks.
Leading 1-0 heading into the fourth inning, Wagner used a four-run frame to take a 5-0 lead. Kate Eshelman kept the SFU offense off balance all afternoon in a 6-1 contest. Eshelman gave up just one run on four hits in 7.0 innings.
Freshman Paige Smith (Saugus, Calif. / Valencia) had an RBI groundout in the sixth inning to get the Red Flash on the board. Waligora had two of Saint Francis' four hits.
