LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team (26-7, 11-1 NEC) wrapped up the series against Fairleigh Dickinson (1-13, 1-11 NEC) with two shutouts on Thursday. Saint Francis ended the first game in five innings with an 8-0 shutout. The Red Flash followed with a 2-0 shutout in game two. Grace Vesco and Rachel Marsden each earned a shutout in the circle.
 

THOUGHTS
Head Coach Jessica O'Donnell: "I was very impressed with how our team responded today. I thought we played more like a team and the energy was much better. Pitching was solid and we always love shutouts. Grace was pinpoint accurate and did a great job getting ahead and finding a way to get us out of innings. Rachel was locked in today. Her pitches were moving a lot and I thought she pitched a gem. Offensively, we weren't perfect, but we did a better job of scoring runs when we had runners on. Yesterday we were overthinking at the plate and I was happy to see them relax and make adjustments. We had a lot of players step up to produce. These were fun team wins."
 
GAME ONE
Saint Francis 8, Fairleigh Dickinson 0 (5 inn.)
Records: Saint Francis (25-7, 10-1 NEC), Fairleigh Dickinson (1-12, 1-10 NEC)
Location: Red Flash Softball Field (Loretto, Pa.)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Grace Vesco pitched the complete game shutout. She surrendered only two hits and one walk.

Saint Francis took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Mekenzie Saban hit a lead-off single and advanced to second on a Fairleigh Dickinson fielding error that saw Jordan Pietrzykoski safe at first. Lexi Hernandez brought Saban home from second with a single to right field. Pietrzykoski stole home for the second run of the inning.

Brittney Crawford hit a double during the second inning and stole home to increase SFU's lead to 3-0 after two complete innings.

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Red Flash added a run. Lauren Aubry hit a one-out triple down the left line and scored on a sacrifice fly from Crawford.

Saint Francis scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game early. Hernandez was hit by a pitch and Tayven Rousseau drew a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Jordan Frank hit a three-run home run to extend the lead to 7-0, prompting an FDU pitching change. Ashley Wruble tripled down the right-field line and Aubry followed with a walk. Wruble scored on a wild pitch to end the game early.

GAME NOTES

• This is Crawford's third double of the season.
• This is Aubry's first career triple.
• This is Vesco's ninth shutout of the season.
• This is Frank's first home run of the season and second multi-RBI game of the season.
• This is Saban's 13^th multi-hit game of the season.

 
GAME TWO
Saint Francis 2, Fairleigh Dickinson 0
Records: Saint Francis (26-7, 11-1 NEC), Fairleigh Dickinson (1-13, 1-11 NEC)
Location: Red Flash Softball Field (Loretto, Pa.)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Rachel Marsden pitched the complete game shutout. She gave up only two hits and one walk through seven innings.

The Red Flash scored first with a run in the first. Pietrzykoski singled and advanced to second as Hernandez was hit by a pitch. Pietrzykoski stole third and then scored as Rousseau drew a walk.

Saint Francis left runners on second and third to end both the second and third innings.

The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth. Crawford and Saban hit back-to-back doubles to right center as Saban brought Crawford around to increase the lead to 2-0 after four complete innings.

GAME NOTES

• This is Crawford's fourth double of the season and second of the day.
• This is Saban's 14^th double of the season and her 14^th multi-hit game of the season.

 
UP AHEAD
The Red Flash travels to Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday and Wednesday for a four-game series. Both doubleheaders are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.