CONWAY, S.C. – Sophomore Grace Vesco tossed a no-hitter in the second game of the afternoon to help the Saint Francis softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Buffalo on Sunday, completing a 3-1 season-opening weekend at the Battle of the Beach tournament.

Vesco's 11-strikeout no-hitter led the way in a 3-0 victory in the second game of the day after the Red Flash offense powered an 11-4 win in Game 1.
 
THOUGHTS
Head Coach Jessica O'Donnell: "What a great weekend all around! This team came together at just the right time and played as one unit. Everyone contributed and that's something that will be so critical as we head down the stretch. Our pitching staff kept us in every game and kudos to Grace Vesco for her no-hitter against Buffalo. She was locked in and has put in so much work to get to this moment. I'm so proud of our team in general and our overall performance."

Sophomore pitcher Grace Vesco: "We're all very grateful to be out here since it's been almost a year since we last played. You never know when you're going to play again, so I try to treat every game like it's my last. In regards to my performance today, it wouldn't have been possible without the defense behind me. My approach was just to get ahead on each batter and trust my defense."

GAME ONE
Saint Francis 11, Buffalo 4
Records: Saint Francis (2-1), Buffalo (0-3)
Location: St. John Stadium (Conway, S.C.)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Christina Clark started the game in the circle for the Red Flash and pitched two complete innings. Clark surrendered no runs and only one hit while striking out two. Rachel Marsden came into the game as relief to begin the third inning and pitched the remaining five innings. Marsden gave up four runs on five hits and totaled seven strikeouts.

Jordan Pietrzykoski started off the game with a single and stole second. She advanced to third on a ground ball. Lindsay Ward brought Pietrzykoski home to put the Red Flash on the board first. Tayven Rousseau hit a two-run home run to increase SFU's lead to 3-0. Sydney Baker hit a single and stole second but was stranded to finish the inning.

The Bulls loaded the bases in the bottom of the first but the Red Flash defense along with a strikeout from Clark ended the inning without giving up a run.

Saint Francis doubled its lead with three more runs in the second to take a 6-0 lead. Brittney Crawford drew the lead-off walk before UB made a pitching change. Madeline Barnes was safe on a fielder's choice and an error that saw Crawford safe at second. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. The Bulls tagged out Crawford at home for the first out of the inning but the Red Flash still had runners on second and third. Mekenzie Saban then reached base on an error to load the bases. Ward brought in a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. Rousseau brought two more runs home with a single to right field.

The Red Flash added three more runs in the top of the third to increase the lead to 9-0. Crawford singled and scored the first run of the inning off of a double from Barnes. With runners on the corners two outs, Lexi Hernandez hit an RBI single on her first collegiate at-bat to make it 8-0. The final run of the inning came off of a single from Ward, her second RBI single of the game.

The Red Flash added two runs in the fifth to lead 11-0. Both runs scored on a two-out home run from Ward. Following the home run, Rousseau, Allyn Bezjak and Lauren Aubry each singled to load the bases but a diving catch in the outfield ended the threat.

Buffalo got on the scoreboard with four runs in the fifth inning to force a sixth inning as Saint Francis led 11-4 after five. The Bulls tallied four singles and a hit by pitch after mustering only one hit the previous four innings combined.

The Red Flash loaded the bases in the seventh inning on singles by Bezjak and Jordan Frank and a hit by pitch by Aubry but could not add to the lead.

GAME NOTES

• Rousseau has at least one hit and two RBI in each of the first three games of the season.
• Ward has a hit in each of the first three games of the season. This is her second three-hit game.
• Pietrzykoski has at least one walk in each of the first three games of the season.
• Ten different Red Flash players recorded a hit.

 

GAME TWO
Saint Francis 3, Buffalo 0
Records: Saint Francis (3-1), Buffalo (0-4)
Location: St. John Stadium (Conway, S.C.)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Vesco pitched the entire game for the Red Flash, completing a no-hitter and totaling 11 strikeouts.

Vesco began the game with back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout in the top of the first.

Frank got the first hit of the game for either team in the bottom of the third, reaching base on a bunt.

Rousseau got the Red Flash on the scoreboard first with an RBI double in the fourth inning. Saban was hit by a pitch and stole second before scoring on Rousseau's hit.

The Bulls got two on base in the fifth inning on a walk and an error before Vesco struck out three-straight batters to preserve the 1-0 lead.

A single by Barnes and a walk by Hernandez prompted a UB pitching change in the fifth, but the Red Flash were unable to score.

The game remained 1-0 until the bottom of the sixth when the Red Flash scored two runs to extend the lead to 3-0. Singles from Rousseau and Bezjak put runners on base and both scored on a wild pitch that saw the second runner tagged but the umpire called catcher's interference on the play.

Vesco and the Red Flash defense retired the Bulls in order in the top of the seventh, ending the game with Vesco's 11^th strikeout.

GAME NOTES

• Rousseau continued her hit and RBI streak as she had at least one of each in all four games this weekend. This is her second multi-hit game.
• Vesco struck out a career-high 11 batters in her first collegiate no-hitter.

 
UP NEXT
Saint Francis travels to the Winthrop Eagle Classic next weekend and is set to face five different opponents. The Red Flash play Syracuse and host-team Winthrop on Friday at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.