STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (May 1, 2010) – Sophomore Paige Smith (Saugus, Calif./Valencia) (Saugus, Calif. / Valencia) went 4-for-4 with two RBIs in Game 1 and freshman Taylor Darneille (Fircrest, Wash. / Wilson) drove in three total runs to lead the Saint Francis softball team to a Northeast Conference doubleheader sweep at Wagner on Saturday afternoon.
Smith's four-hit, two-RBI effort in Game 1 led the Red Flash to a 7-6 victory, while sophomore Megan Layne (Vallejo, Calif./Rodriguez) (Vallejo, Calif. / Rodriguez) picked up her 10th win of the season by tossing a complete game.
Darneille had a first-inning RBI single, and then plated senior Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, PA/Bishop Shanahan) (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) with the game-winning run when she reached on a two-out error in the top of the sixth inning of a 2-1 Game 2 win. Freshman Carmen Gurrola (Arleta, Calif. / John F. Kennedy) earned her third win by giving up one unearned run on six hits.
SFU improved to 13-34 overall, and 4-12 in the Northeast Conference. The Red Flash will wrap up their 2010 road schedule with a doubleheader at NEC power Long Island, beginning at Noon on Sunday.
In Game 1, Smith gave SFU a 1-0 lead with a first inning RBI single, but the Seahawks answered with one run the bottom half of the inning and another in the second to take a 2-1 lead.
Smith had another RBI single and sophomore Courtney Francis (Jefferson, Ohio/Jefferson Area) (Jefferson, Ohio / Jefferson Area) added one of her own to put the Red Flash up 3-2 in the third inning.
Wagner tied it up at 3-3 in the next frame before an error and wild pitch led to two Saint Francis runs in the fifth inning. However, the Seahawks tied it up at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth.
Darneille then plated the game-winning runs with a two-run single in the sixth inning. Wagner scored one run in the seventh, but Layne stranded the tying run at second base to end the threat to secure the 7-6 win.
Sophomore Katie McMellen (Kingsville, OH /Edgewood) (Kingsville, Ohio / Edgewood) collected three hits and scored three runs, and Darneille had two hits in the game. Layne struck out four and walked four while scattering 10 hits.
McMellen led off Game 2 with a single and eventually scored on Darneille's single up the middle to make it 1-0. But the Seahawks tied it up in the third inning.
The Red Flash would get the game-winning run in the sixth inning when Darneille hit a ball to first base, allowing Cortese to score.
Gurrola again stranded the tying run at second base to end the game.
