FURMAN, S.C. - The Red Flash Softball team (4-5, 0-0) dropped both of its games on day two of the Furman Tournament on Saturday, falling to South Dakota, 2-0, in Game One, and to Furman, 7-5, in Game Two.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
» Saint Francis and South Dakota held each other scoreless throughout the first four innings of Game One, but a two-run fifth inning lifted the Coyotes to win.
» Furman's redemption win over Saint Francis was headlined by a solo home run by Riley Ludlum.
» Rachel Marsden struck out seven hitters against South Dakota.
» Jordan Pietrzykoski went 2-for-3, while Jordan Frank and Sydney Baker doubled against Furman.
» Olivia Ulam, who exited Game One with an injury, went 1-for-3 with a RBI against Furman.

FLASH QUOTES
» "I thought Rachel pitched a phenomenal game, good enough to win, but I feel that we ran ourselves out of innings on the base paths several times, so we have to be smarter and come through offensively when we have runners in scoring position, which we had multiple times." - Head Coach Jessica O'Donnell on Game One
» "I think we struggled in the circle a little bit, but we had 11 hits in the game, so I'm proud of our offense and the fight we had. I think we'll learn from it and I thought that if we had one more inning, we would've won that game." - O'Donnell on Game Two.
» "[Olivia]'s tough. As soon as I was told that she needed stitches, I knew she needed to go to the hospital to get stitched up and I knew she would come back ready to go. That's just her nature and who she is as a player. If she could've stayed and played with the blood on her face, she would've." - O'Donnell on Olivia Ulam coming back from injury in Game Two.
» "I think down the stretch this will pay off for us, and sometimes it's the growing pains and early losses that will help you be able to be like 'we've been here before, and we know how to get out.'" - O'Donnell on lessons learned from the losses.

TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME - GAME 1
» Both Saint Francis and South Dakota held each other hitless throughout the first three innings, but that streak was broken in the fourth after infielder Jadyn DeWitte singled to right field with two outs.
» South Dakota broke open the scoring in the fifth inning, thanks to a fielder's choice and a single.
» Saint Francis found the hit column in the latter half of the fifth after Olivia Ulam led off the frame with a single to center. Rachel Marsden would follow that up with a double, but neither runner would score as a ground out, followed by a double play, stopped the Red Flash rally.
» Saint Francis would add three more hits in the sixth, but no runs were brought in.
» South Dakota would force Saint Francis into three quick outs in the seventh to end the game.

TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME - GAME 2
» Saint Francis threatened in the top of the second after a single by Ashley Wruble and double by Sydney Baker put two runners in scoring position, but stranded both as Furman forced a pop out and line out to end the inning.
» Furman's Marina Griffin would plate the game's first run on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the third.
» In the fourth, Furman exploded for a five-run inning. Emily Bartlett fueled the offensive inning with a bases-clearing double to left center. Griffin followed a couple hitters later with a two-run single.
» Saint Francis scored its first two runs of the game in the fifth after Olivia Ulam singled home Jordan Pietrzykoski, and Ashley Wruble walked in the second run.
» After a Saint Francis pitching change in the bottom half, Furman's Riley Ludlam led off the inning with a solo home run, extending the Paladins lead to five.
» Ashley Orischak reached in the sixth after a hit by pitch, and she came in to score on a Mekenzie Saban sacrifice fly. Lindsay Ward would score later in the inning on a Little League Inside-the-Park home run — double with a two-base error.
» Rachel Marsden led off the seventh with a triple to right center. Jordan Frank would drive her in the next at-bat on an infield single. That would be all the Paladins would allow, as Sierra Tufts garnered the final two outs for the save and the Furman win.

FLASH NUGGETS
» Rachel Marsden's seven strikeout performance is her second consecutive game with seven or more strikeouts.
» Jordan Pietrzykoski's two-hit performance against Furman marks her fifth multi-hit game this season.

UP NEXT
» Saint Francis (4-5, 0-0) returns to Pepsi Stadium tomorrow to close out its portion of Furman Tournament with a game against South Dakota. First pitch is slated for 9:00 a.m.