LYNCHBURG, Va. – Saint Francis University softball earned a split of its second day at the Liberty Softball Classic with a three-run walk-off home run by Olivia Ulam to beat Penn 7-6 and 2-0 loss to Liberty.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
» Grace Vesco (4-2) went a complete 6.0 innings and allowed two runs on two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.
» Rachel Marsden (5-2) went 4.2 innings in relief and allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
» Ulam's walk-off three-run home run capped off a five RBI game against Penn.
» Savannah Nash hit a two-run home run against Penn.
» Lexi Hernandez went 3-for-6 with two doubles in the games combined.
 
TURNING POINTS OF GAME ONE
» Liberty scored the game's first run in the first inning after a leadoff triple that led to a run scored on a wild pitch.
» The Flames added to their lead with a double steal that led to a 2-0 Liberty lead.
» Saint Francis produced two runners on base in the fifth inning with two outs, but a strikeout ended the frame. The next nine batters combined were retired in a row headed to the seventh inning.
» In the seventh, Hernandez hit a two-out double, but the Red Flash were unable to capitalize in the inning.
 
TURNING POINTS OF GAME TWO
» Penn took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning behind an RBI double and RBI single in a three-batter span.
» The Quakers added to their lead with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. Allie Braly replaced Kolowitz in the inning and limited the damage to one run. Penn added another run on an error in the third inning and extended the lead to 4-0.
» Ulam responded in the bottom of the third with a two-out, two-run double that cut the deficit in half, 4-2.
» After two scoreless innings, Penn led off the sixth innings with three straight singles and added two more runs to extend the lead to 6-2.
» In the bottom of the sixth, Marsden led off with a double and Nash followed with a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 6-4.
» After Kaylie Walters and Ashley Wruble singled in the seventh, Ulam hit a three-run walk-off home run to clinch Saint Francis' comeback 7-6 victory.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
» Ulam hit the second walk-off of her collegiate career and her first walk-off home run. It was her first home run of the season and 12th of her career.
» Vesco allowed only two baserunners in the final four innings of her start against Liberty. She allowed three earned runs to carry a 1.74 ERA in 12.0 innings pitched against Penn State and Liberty. Opposing players hit just .163 against her and struck out 13 times.
» Nash hit her first home run of the season and the third of her career.
» Hernandez recorded the 12th two-hit game of her career and her third of the season.

UP NEXT
Saint Francis concludes the Liberty Softball Classic Sunday, Feb. 25 at 12:30 p.m. against Morgan State.