LORETTO, Pa. (Apr. 18, 2010) – Bryant used five home runs and strong pitching to hold off the Saint Francis softball team in a doubleheader on Sunday at the Red Flash Softball Field. The Bulldogs hit two homers in a 6-0 shutout in Game 1, and then rallied back from a 5-0 deficit to steal Game 2, 8-5.

SFU dropped to 10-33 overall, and 2-12 in the Northeast Conference. The Red Flash will try to bounce back when Akron visits Loretto at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Sophomore Courtney Francis (Jefferson, Ohio/Jefferson Area) (Jefferson, Ohio / Jefferson Area) had one of four hits in Game 1 for the Red Flash, and then extended her career-best hitting streak to eight games with two doubles in the nightcap.

In Game 1, Bryant got a homer from second baseman Laura Bowen, and then scored four runs in the fourth inning. Brittany Lischinsky and Ali Chouinard started the inning with back-to-back solo home runs. The Bulldogs tacked on an insurance run in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach.

Freshmen Taylor Darneille (Fircrest, Wash. / Wilson) and Heather Stiglich (Newhall, Calif. / William S. Hart), and senior Stephanie Griffin (Dupont, PA /Pittston Area ) (Dupont, Pa. / Pittston Area) accounted for the other three hits for SFU. Griffin's single was the 100^th hit of her career. Freshman Carmen Gurrola (Arleta, Calif. / John F. Kennedy) gave up two runs on six hits in relief, a strong performance in 3.2 innings of work.

The Red Flash offense didn't wait long to wake up in the second game, scoring five runs in the first two innings. Sophomore Katie McMellen (Kingsville, OH /Edgewood) (Kingsville, Ohio / Edgewood) was hit by a pitch to start the first inning and Griffin followed with a bunt single. Both runners moved up on a groundout by Darneille. Sophomore Paige Smith (Saugus, Calif./Valencia) (Saugus, Calif. / Valencia) was safe on an error that allowed both runners to score, and eventually scored when Francis reached on a fielders' choice to make it 3-0 after one inning.

Freshman Karlie Miller (Wildomar, Calif. / Temescal Canyon) led off the second inning with a double and Gurrola was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with nobody out. McMellen advanced the runners one base with a sacrifice bunt, and Smith plated them with a two-run single up the middle to give SFU a 5-0 lead.

However, Ashley Coon had an RBI double and Lischinsky had a two-run single to cut the Saint Francis lead to 5-3 in the third inning. Lischinsky added an RBI single in the fifth inning, and Lauren McCart hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to tie it at 5-5. Chouinard's three-run homer in the seventh inning gave the Bulldogs an insurmountable 8-5 lead.

Francis and Griffin had two hits each for the Red Flash.