LORETTO, Pa. (April 18, 2011) – Saint Francis earned a 4-3 win over Sacred Heart on its way to a doubleheader split with the Northeast Conference's second place team on Monday afternoon to open up its home slate at Red Flash Field. The Pioneers were able to salvage the day cap by a 7-3 margin.

The Red Flash (10-32, 2-10 NEC) were able to capitalize on a solid outing by pitcher Megan Layne (Vallejo, Calif./Rodriguez) in game one. The junior quieted the Sacred Heart offense for much of the afternoon with the only blemish coming on a three-run homerun by Taylor Froelich in the second inning.

Layne struck out four while walking three in the complete game effort which resulted in her ninth win of the campaign.

While the Pioneers (21-18, 9-5 NEC) struck with power, Saint Francis manufactured its winning formula on offense.

Katelyn McMellen led off the game by legging out a dribbler, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Brianna Garcia, and eventually plated SFU's first run on a Paige Smith (Saugus, Calif./Valencia) double. Ashley Thomas reached base on a walk and advanced to third on an error that also allowed Smith to score and Chelsy Cosentino to safely reach first. Karlie Miller singled in to score Thomas to close out the inning.

Both Smith and Thomas' runs were unearned.

The score remained knotted at three from the second inning until the bottom of the seventh when Consentino singled in pinch runner Hannah Francis for walk off with the win.

Miller paced the Flash from the dish, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. SFU was outhit 9-to-8 in the game.

In the second game, Sacred Heart efficiently generated seven runs on 11 hits while keeping the Flash bats in check. Despite the statistical disparity, the Pioneers were only able to seal the win with a three-run top-of-the-seventh.

The Pioneers plated one run in the second and three more in the third to put SFU in an early hole, but Saint Francis battled back with a two-run fifth and a one-run sixth to cut their deficit to 4-3.

Consentino went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the day cap to pace the Flash. Miller went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a game-high two RBIs. As a unit, SFU managed only six hits in the contest, while Pioneer pitchers racked up 13 strikeouts.

Saint Francis returns to action on Wednesday when it welcomes Youngstown State for a 3 p.m. doubleheader.