BOX SCORE Lynchburg, Va. - The Saint Francis softball team (21-8) solidified its undefeated week at the Liberty Classic with a 13-1 drubbing of Rhode Island in five innings on Saturday.

Jennifer Patrick-Swift's Reaction

"Abby continued to dominate in the circle today and Adrian closed it with a strong performance of her own," said head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift. "Our hitters got after it in the box as shown by our hits and runs totals. It was a great weekend of solid team and individual performances on the diamond. We are looking forward to a day off tomorrow and then getting back to work on Monday."

Saint Francis wasted little time asserting its dominance with a five-run first inning. Sophomore Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) led off the game with an infield single and was safe at second on junior Jordan Seneca (Plum, Pa./Plum)'s grounder to short. McKee and Seneca executed a double steal to put two in scoring position and both came home to score on sophomore Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove)'s two-run single. Sophomore Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) followed with her team-high 11th double of the season, which ranks in the top five in the country. She would score along with Norton on a triple by redshirt freshman Halle Marion (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) as the Red Flash built a 4-0 lead. Sophomore Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) added an rbi ground out to close out the five-run frame.

Saint Francis tacked on two more runs in the second courtesy of four walks and a Rhode Island error. 

A single from freshman Taylor Hoover (Phillipsburg, Ohio/Northmont), walk to senior KIndra Witthus, wild pitch and sac fly by Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) gave the Red Flash an 8-0 lead. Rhode Island scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning before Saint Francis answered when Bower drove in junior Madison Cabell (Ivor, Va./Southampton) with an rbi double off the wall in right center.

The Red Flash added four more runs in the fifth inning on an impressive showcase of power. A day after breaking the Saint Francis career home run record, Seneca launched a two-run homer off the top of the netting way above the left field wall for her 12th home run of the season and ninth, 10th and 11th rbi's of the week. Norton followed it up with a blast of her own to the hill overlooking the right field wall for her sixth of the season. She had four rbi in the game. Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) started the scoring in the inning with an rbi single to left to score senior Kindra Witthus (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) who hit a leadoff double.

Sisters Sierra and Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) combined to hit .636 over the five-game tournament (21-for-33) with six doubles, a home run and nine rbi. Cheyenne scored 13 runs.

Freshman Abby Trahan (Kaplan, La./Kaplan) (10-3) earned her fourth win of the week, allowing three hits and an unearned run in three innings. Freshman Adrian Smith (Clairsville, Ohio/St. Clairsville) made her second appearance of the season in the circle, posting
two shutout innings.

Saint Francis scored 44 runs on 51 hits over its five games, outscoring its opponents 44-12. Trahan went 4-0 with a 1.05 era.

Up Next

Saint Francis is scheduled to play a doubleheader at Penn State on Wednesday, Mar. 15, but inclement weather is forecast and could alter the date of the games. The Red Flash go to Lubbock, Texas next weekend to compete in the Texas Tech Invitational.