MANHEIM, Pa. (Feb. 22, 2015) – The Saint Francis U softball team has had some difficulty this season with the weather as seven games thus far this season have been cancelled due to frigid temperatures down south. But that all changed on Sunday afternoon as Saint Francis and Saint Joseph's squared off inside of the bubble dome at the Spooky Nook athletic facility. 

Saint Francis took care of Saint Joseph's inside the Spooky Nook dome, taking both games from the Hawks with scores of 5-1 and 3-1.

In game one of the doubleheader, SFU took a quick lead as Alexis Bower (Cogan Station, Pa./Williamsport Area) jumped all over a 2-0 pitch from starter Niki Carillo and sent it over the makeshift fence in left center field for her first home run of the season; giving the Flash an early 1-0 lead. But the Hawks came back quickly in the bottom half of the inning scoring a run on a fielder's choice off of Saint Francis starter Blaire Lauthers (Doylesburg, Pa./Fannett-Metal). 

The score remained tied until senior shortstop, Taylor Parsons (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle), blasted a double into right center to bring home Maggie Cerciun for SFU's second run of the afternoon. Saint Francis scored single runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh to cap the scoring in game one. Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) and Cerciun recorded the other RBIs for the Red Flash.

After Lauthers allowed the first inning run, she settled in to shutout the Hawks over the next five innings. She came out to begin the final inning, but a leadoff walk forced head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift to bring in Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, Ill./Forreston) for the last three outs. Lauthers went six innings only allowing three hits while striking out three to pick up her second victory of the year. 

In the night cap, the first inning offense continued to be potent for SFU as Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) launched a towering three-run home run over the left field wall to give Saint Francis an early 3-0 lead in game two. Cabell's lone hit would be the only one recorded in the second game.

Bower got the start in game two and flew through the first two innings, striking out three. In the third inning, a defensive error gave SJU new life as it scored it's first run of the game. But Bower settled in and shutdown Saint Joe's over her next five innings of work, striking out four.

The second game ended after five innings due to time constrictions. Bower picked up her second win of the season as she threw a five inning complete game. 

Saint Francis U travels down to Florida this weekend as it will play at Jacksonville on March 3 and then play in the Rebel Games March 4-6 in Winter Haven.