LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis softball team (40-8, 22-2 NEC) won its fourth-consecutive NEC Tournament Championship with a 12-4 win in five innings against LIU (27-8, 25-7 NEC) on Saturday. The Red Flash offense used a nine-run second inning and 14 total hits to end the game early on the back of a victory in the circle from Rachel Marsden.
 

Saint Francis 12, LIU 4 (5 inn.)
Records: Saint Francis (40-8, 22-2 NEC), LIU (27-9, 25-7 NEC)
Location: Red Flash Softball Field (Loretto, Pa.)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Rachel Marsden started the game in the circle for the Red Flash, throwing four complete innings. She surrendered three earned runs on four hits while recording two strikeouts. Grace Vesco entered the game as relief to begin the fifth. Vesco gave up no runs and only one hit in the final inning.

Saint Francis scored first with nine runs in the bottom of the second. Tayven Rousseau got the first hit of the game for either team, a one-out single. A fielder's choice and a walk drawn by Lindsay Ward put runners on first and second with two outs. Brittney Crawford brought in the first run of the game with a single. Madeline Barnes hit a ground rule double down the left line to score a run. The Sharks made a pitching change. Mekenzie Saban hit an RBI single and was followed by Jordan Pietrzykoski being hit by a pitch. Lexi Hernandez brought in a run with a single and Allyn Bezjak hit a single to score two. Rousseau hit a home run to score the final three runs of the inning.

LIU responded with two runs in the top of the third on a pair of singles and an error to cut the SFU lead to 9-2. The Sharks added two more runs in the top of the fourth on a single and a home run. Saint Francis held a 9-4 lead in the middle of the fourth.

The Red Flash put up three runs in the fourth to increase its lead to 12 -4. Hernandez led off with a single. Bezjak hit a two-run home run followed by Rousseau's second home run of the game to force another Sharks pitching change. Ward singled but no more runs scored.

LIU earned a pair of base runners in the fifth but Vesco forced back-to-back ground outs to wrap up the game in five.

GAME NOTES

• This is the fourth-consecutive NEC Tournament Championship for Saint Francis. The Red Flash previously won in 2017, 2018 and 2019. There was no 2020 NEC Tournament Championship.
• This is Marsden's 14^th win of the season.
• This is Rousseau's ninth and 10^th home runs of the season.
• This is Rousseau's 11^th multi-hit game and 10^th multi-RBI game of the season.
• This is Bezjak's third home run of the season.
• This is Bezjak's eighth multi-hit game and seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
• This is Saban's 23^rd multi-hit game of the season.
• This is Hernandez's ninth multi-hit game of the season.
• This is Ward's seventh multi-hit game of the season.
• This is Barnes' fourth double of the season.
• Eight different Red Flash players recorded a hit.

 
UP NEXT
The selection show for the NCAA Tournament is scheduled for Sunday at 9 p.m.
 
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To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.