LORETTO, Pa. (Apr. 20, 2010) – Sophomore Megan Layne (Vallejo, Calif./Rodriguez) (Vallejo, Calif. / Rodriguez) pitched her second shutout of the season and senior Christina Aulbach (York, PA /Dallastown Area) (York, Pa. / Dallastown Area) had an RBI single in the fourth inning to lead the Saint Francis softball team to a 1-0 victory over Mid-American Conference foe Akron on Tuesday afternoon.

The Red Flash rallied from a two-run deficit to tie Game 2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Akron scored six runs in the top of the eighth inning and wound up with a 10-6 victory for the split.

Saint Francis will close out its regular season on Sunday when Mount St. Mary's visits the Red Flash Softball Field for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. SFU will honor four seniors prior to the game on Senior Day.

In Game 1, Layne stranded Zips' runners in scoring position in every inning except the second frame, but finished with her second shutout of the year. She struck out eight and walked two in a three-hitter.

Sophomore Paige Smith (Saugus, Calif./Valencia) (Saugus, Calif. / Valencia) started the fourth inning rally with a one-out single through the left side. Freshman Carmen Gurrola (Arleta, Calif. / John F. Kennedy) followed with a single to right-center that allowed Smith to advance to third base. Freshman Karlie Miller (Wildomar, Calif. / Temescal Canyon) walked to load the bases, and Aulbach followed with her RBI single to left field.

Senior Stephanie Griffin (Dupont, PA /Pittston Area ) (Dupont, Pa. / Pittston Area) and freshman Taylor Darneille (Fircrest, Wash. / Wilson) each had two hits each.

Akron jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two runs in the third inning of Game 2. However, the Red Flash were able to tie the contest with the equalizers in the fourth frame. Smith and Gurrola had RBI doubles in the inning to tie the score.

The Zips responded with two runs in the next half inning to take a 4-2 lead, but Saint Francis wasn't done. Senior Ashley Bellmont (Morrisville, PA/Notre Dame (N.J.) ) (Morrisville, Pa. / Notre Dame) sparked a seventh inning rally with a leadoff double that nearly left the yard. Sophomore Katie McMellen (Kingsville, OH /Edgewood) (Kingsville, Ohio / Edgewood) followed with an infield single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Griffin was then hit by a pitch to fill the bases. Darneille grounded into a double play to make it 4-3, and McMellen eventually scored on a wild pitch to force extra innings with a 4-4 score.

However, Akron strung together five hits and took advantage of one SFU error to score six runs in the top of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach with a 10-4 advantage.

Gurrola hit her first career home run, a two-run shot, in the bottom half of the inning to complete the scoring.

McMellen had three hits, while Darneille, Smith and Gurrola had two each.