LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team was staring the wrong side of a sweep right in the face against LIU Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon after losing the first game, 5-1, and trailing in the bottom of the seventh inning, 8-4. But the Flash mounted a last-gasp rally that culminated in a game-tying grand slam by Taylor Parsons (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle) to send the game to extra innings. Then, in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, Kindra Witthus (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) singled to right to score Jordan Seneca (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) for the winning run in an exciting 9-8 win.
 
The Flash fought back from deficits three different times in game two and looked to take control of the game with a three-run fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead. After one out, Seneca hit her first career home run deep to left field to tie the score at 2-2. Maggie Creciun (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) and Lindsey Reid (Bear, Del./Caravel Academy) each walked after the second out, and Parsons and Witthus each singled home a run to make it 4-2 Flash.
 
That score stuck until the top of the sixth inning. With two on and two out, Madison Green homered to right center to put the Blackbirds back on top, 5-4. A Parsons double in the bottom half of the frame helped to load the bases, but Saint Francis couldn't convert the chance into any runs. In the top of the seventh, LIU Brooklyn put up another three runs after two outs with a double and back-to-back home runs to make it 8-4.
 
With things looking bleak, the Flash began to mount a rally in its final at-bat. Singles by Seneca and Reid sandwiched a walk to Kate Blattenberger (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) to load the bases with one out. That brought Parsons to the plate. After knocking in nine runs in a doubleheader sweep of Wagner yesterday, she added six more RBIs in the two games today. Four of those came on one swing of the bat, as she took a pitch deep to right center to tie the score at 8-8. In four games this weekend, Parsons hit .438 with two home runs, 15 RBIs and a .938 slugging percentage. She had three of her seven hits this weekend in game two Sunday.
 
Seneca, who was 3-for-4 in game two, led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a walk to reach base for the fourth time. Paige Richardson (Shippensburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) sacrificed her to second, and Creciun's infield single put runners at the corners. Creciun stole second before Reid grounded out against a drawn-in infield. With two outs and first base open, LIU Brooklyn gave Parsons nothing to hit in a four-pitch walk. That gave Witthus the chance to win the game, and she delivered with a sinking liner to right that fell just in front of the fielder. The Flash had a 9-8 win.
 
Ketarah DeVries (Forreston, Ill./Forreston) and Blaire Lauthers (Doylesburg, Pa./Fannett-Metal) combined for 1 1/3 innings in scoreless relief of Ethel Santai (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area), giving Lauthers the victory for her clean eighth inning.
 
Parsons, Witthus and Seneca each had three hits while Creciun and Reid each had two. Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) had an RBI single in the first to tie the game, 1-1.
 
The Flash busted out with 15 hits in game two, which helped tip the scales after a slow start to the day. In game one, SFU was limited to just a run on three hits in a 5-1 defeat. Parsons grounded out in the sixth inning to score Creciun to break the shutout.
 
Saint Francis continues its homestand tomorrow with a non-conference doubleheader against Youngstown State. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.