AKRON, Ohio – The Saint Francis softball team (15-6) swept its doubleheader at Akron (3-15) on Wednesday. The Red Flash earned the 4-2 win in game one before the offense came alive for a 10-3 win in game two.
 

THOUGHTS
Head Coach Jessica O'Donnell: "I thought we came to play today and used these games to prepare for conference play. We did a better job with situational hitting today. I thought Rachel pitched a great game in the second game and kept their hitters off balance. I'm excited to see what we can do heading into conference play."

Sophomore pitcher/infielder Rachel Marsden: "We capitalized when we needed to and defensively we made the most of the ground ball plays and made the outs when we needed to."

GAME ONE
Saint Francis 4, Akron 2
Records: Saint Francis (14-6), Akron (3-14)
Location: Lee R. Jackson Field (Akron, Ohio)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Grace Vesco pitched the complete game to earn her ninth win of the season. Vesco gave up two runs and five hits while striking out seven.

Saint Francis got onto the scoreboard first, scoring twice in the top of the second inning. Allyn Bezjak led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and Tayven Rousseau singled to put runners on first and third. Sydney Baker hit a sacrifice fly to score Bezjak while Rousseau scored on a Zips fielding error for the final run of the inning. The Red Flash left runners on first and second after a double from Brittney Crawford and a Mekenzie Saban hit-by-pitch.

The Red Flash offense added another run in the top of the third to increase its lead to 3-0. Lindsay Ward led off with her second single of the game and advanced to second on a passed ball. Ward scored on an RBI single off the bat of Lexi Hernandez.

The score remained 3-0 until Akron scored twice in the bottom of the fourth inning on a trio of singles.

Baker increased the SFU lead to 4-2 with an RBI double in the top of the sixth inning. Bezjak drew a walk to lead off the inning and Lauren Aubry came into the game to pinch run, scoring on Baker's double.

Vesco struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the lead for Saint Francis.

GAME NOTES

• Ward recorded her sixth multi-hit game of the season.
• This is Crawford's first double of the season and second multi-hit game of the season.
• This is Baker's fourth double of the season and first multi-RBI game of the season.

 
GAME TWO
Saint Francis 10, Akron 3
Records: Saint Francis (15-6), Akron (3-15)
Location: Lee R. Jackson Field (Akron, Ohio)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Rachel Marsden pitched the complete game for the Red Flash, giving up three runs on seven hits and totaling five strikeouts.

The Red Flash were opportunistic in the top of the first inning, scoring five runs to take an early lead. Saban reached on an Akron error to begin the game. Jordan Pietrzykoski reached base on a fielder's choice and scored the first run of the game on a fielder's choice that saw Hernandez safe. Saint Francis loaded the bases with a Bezjak walk, Rousseau single and a Baker hit-by-pitch. Two runs scored on a fielder's choice play that saw Jordan Frank safe. Crawford drove in the final two runs of the inning with an RBI single.

Saint Francis tacked on a run in the fourth inning. Pietrzykoski drew a two-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. She scored on a single down the right field line off the bat of Hernandez.

Akron scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI triple.

The Red Flash added four runs in the sixth inning to push the margin to 10-1. Singles from Emily Nunez and Saban put runners on second and third with one out. Pietrzykoski drove in the first run of the inning with a single to right field. Hernandez hit a three-run home run to clear the bases.

The Zips tallied two runs in the sixth inning to force a seventh inning as the Red Flash held a 10-3 lead. The runs were scored as the product of two doubles and a triple.

GAME NOTES

• This is Crawford's second multi-RBI game this season.
• Hernandez hit her first collegiate home run.
• Hernandez tallied her third multi-RBI game of the season and fifth multi-hit game of the season.
• This is the fourth game this season that the SFU offense has scored at least 10 runs.

 
UP AHEAD
Saint Francis opens conference play this weekend with a series against Wagner. The Red Flash and Seahawks will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and a doubleheader on Sunday at noon.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.