CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Feb. 19, 2010) – The Saint Francis softball team rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat Toledo, 6-5, in an extra inning contest in both teams' season openers on Friday afternoon at the UNC-Charlotte First Pitch Classic.

However, the Red Flash again fell behind later in the day and couldn't muster a comeback in a 5-3 loss against tournament host Charlotte.

SFU will be back in action with two games on Saturday at the First Pitch Classic. The Red Flash will face Stony Brook at 11 a.m., and will then face an opponent to be determined at either 3 or 5 p.m.

Despite having not held an outdoor practice due to the recent snowstorms in the mid-atlantic, Saint Francis bashed 21 hits in the two games and hit .356 on the day.

Toledo jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the bottom of the third inning of the season opener, but sophomore Paige Smith (Saugus, Calif./Valencia) (Saugus, Calif. / Valencia) answered with a leadoff double in the next half inning. Freshman Taylor Darneille (Fircrest, Wash. / Wilson), who had a big collegiate debut, cut the deficit in half with a two-run triple for her first career base hit.

Darneille again came through with an RBI single in the sixth inning to make it 4-3, and Smith tied the ballgame with an RBI single in the seventh. Senior Ashley Bellmont (Morrisville, PA/Notre Dame (N.J.) ) (Morrisville, Pa. / Notre Dame) and sophomore Katelyn McMellen (Kingsville, Ohio / Edgewood) drew bases loaded walks to give the Red Flash a 6-4 lead in the top of the eighth inning.

Toledo scratched across one run in the bottom of the eighth, but sophomore Megan Layne (Vallejo, Calif./Rodriguez) (Vallejo, Calif. / Rodriguez) completed the game for her first win of the season. Layne gave up five unearned runs on six hits and had four strikeouts and three walks in 8.0 innings of work.

Darneille reached base all four at-bats, two by base hits and two by hit-by-pitch, and had three RBIs. Smith went 3-for-4 and drove in a run, and Junior Raquel Rugani (Montour, PA/Montour) (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour) was 2-for-4.

Charlotte scored the first four runs of the nightcap with one in the third inning, one more in the fourth and two in the fifth. Rugani got the Red Flash on the board with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning, driving in McMellen, who had singled to start the inning.

The 49ers scored another run in the top of the seventh inning to take a 5-2 lead before senior Kelly Cortese (Coatesville, PA/Bishop Shanahan) (Coatesville, Pa. / Bishop Shanahan) had an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to complete the scoring.

Layne gave up five runs on 10 hits and walked three in 7.0 innings. Rugani was 3-for-4 in the game with two RBIs, and Smith and senior Stephanie Griffin (Dupont, PA /Pittston Area ) (Dupont, Pa. / Pittston Area) had two hits each. Darneille had a double, while fellow freshmen Danielle DeDomenico (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Cherry Hill West) and Misty Hammel also contributed in their first collegiate games. DeDomenico's first career hit came in the first game, and Hammel scored two runs in pinch-running opportunities.