SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Saint Francis softball team earned a split at Bryant on Sunday to keep itself in the hunt for an NEC Tournament berth. The Flash lost game one, 4-1, before winning game two, 5-2. Senior centerfielder Taylor Parsons (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle) tied the single season doubles record with a two-bagger in each game. She now has 19 for the season.

Parsons' doubled to lead off the game in each half of the doubleheader, and in game two it set the table for a two-run inning. After being bunter to third base by Kindra Witthus (Hudson, Wis./Hudson), Alexis Bower (Cogan Station, Pa./Williamsport Area) homered to left field to give the Flash a 2-0 lead. It's her fifth homer of the season.

Jordan Seneca (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) added to the Flash lead with a home run to left of her own. She took a pitch deep to left for the second home run of her freshman season to make it 3-0 Saint Francis.

Bower was in the circle in game two for the Flash, and she navigated through a formidable Bryant lineup. She got a strikeout to end the bottom of the second inning with two runners on base to end that opportunity for the Bulldogs. She repeated that sequence in the next inning, again fanning the potential tying run at the plate. In that third inning, she had help from her defense. Second baseman Lindsey Reid (Bear, Del./Caravel Academy) made a great diving stop with her backhand behind the bag, and she reached over and touched the base with her glove to record the force out.

Bryant finally broke through in the fourth with a home run to center, but it was of the solo variety to keep the Flash ahead, 3-1. The Bulldogs added another solo home run – their fourth solo homer of the doubleheader – in the fifth to make it a one-run game, 3-2.

Seneca got her third hit of the game on a bloop single to right. After being advanced on a sacrifice bunt, Bryant pitched around Parsons with two outs and gave her a four-pitch walk. That set the stage for Witthus. Her lined double into the right-center gap scored both Seneca and Parsons to make it 5-2.

Besides earning the win in the circle, Bower also went 3-for-4 at the plate. She pitched a complete game, allowing just the two runs on five hits. Seneca also went 3-for-4 for her third three-hit game of the season. Maggie Creciun (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) had two hits including a double to right.

Parsons tied Brooke Keiper's 19 doubles during the 2001 season with her leadoff double in game two. Parsons already owns the career doubles record, which she set earlier this season. She is now also just two hits away from tying the school's career record of 194 and one run away from tying that career record.

Her double to open game one helped the Flash get on the board early. Standing at third after Bower's single put runners at the corners, the pair perfectly executed a double steal. Parsons slid in ahead of the throw to make it 1-0 SFU.

Bryant built a picket fence on the line score with single runs in each of the first three innings to take a 3-1 lead. The Bulldogs hit solo home runs in each of the first two innings and followed that with a walk and a triple to bring home the third run. It finished the scoring with a walk and two singles to bring the score to 4-1.

The Flash moves into the final week of the regular season with a non-conference doubleheader at Pittsburgh on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Flash then finishes the NEC schedule with a big doubleheader at home against Robert Morris on Saturday. That will begin at 1 p.m.