AKRON, Ohio – The Saint Francis softball team swept Akron in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon, winning 4-2 and 9-2 against the Zips. With the victories, the Flash moves to 20-8 on the season. That gives this year's team the distinction of the fastest to reach the 20-win mark in a season in program history.
Saint Francis used three hits after two outs to score the first two runs in the third inning of game one. Taylor Parsons (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle) led off with a single, and she scored one hitter later on Lindsey Reid (Bear, Del./Caravel Academy)'s double to center. She came around to score to make it 2-0 on a single by Alexis Bower (Cogan Station, Pa./Williamsport Area).
Akron scored an unearned run in the bottom of that frame, and the score stayed 2-1 in favor of SFU until the top of the sixth when the Flash came through with another two-out RBI. Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) scored on a Nicole Paiotti (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) single to center to make it 3-1. Akron answered back with its second unearned run of the game off starter Blaire Lauthers (Doylesburg, Pa./Fannett-Metal), but the Flash got that insurance run right back in the top of the seventh. After two outs, Parsons doubled and scored on an error to make it 4-2.
Parsons reached base three times and scored two runs to lead the offense. Lauthers went the distance, allowing no earned runs while striking out seven. She's currently sixth in the nation in earned run average.
In game two, the Flash stormed out to a 4-0 lead after three innings with a pair of runs in each of the second and third innings. In the second, Cabell and Kindra Witthus (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) led off with a single and walk, respectively, but another two-out hit netted the runs. Jordan Seneca (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) doubled to center to bring the runs home to give the Flash a 2-0 lead. In the third, Bower singled home Parsons, who led off the inning by reaching on an error. After two outs, Witthus singled Bower home to make it 4-0.
The Flash made it 5-0 in the fifth when Paiotti brought Bower around on a two-out single to left. Akron made it 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but the Flash put the game away in the top of the sixth. Saint Francis scored four runs on four hits in the frame. Parsons singled home Seneca to make it 6-2, and Bower's triple chased home Parsons and Reid, who had been hit by a pitch, to make it 8-2.
After the second out, Witthus' second RBI of the game scored Bower's third run of the game to round out the scoring at 9-2. Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area) earned the victory, scattering five hits in her five innings. Chelsea Rex (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) pitched two innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit.
Saint Francis returns to conference action on Friday against Robert Morris in Loretto. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
