STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Saint Francis University softball claimed its fourth straight outright Northeast Conference Regular Season title after a doubleheader sweep of Wagner. The Red Flash defeated the Seahawks 5-1 in game one and 4-0 in game two.   
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
» Grace Vesco (15-7) went 6.2 innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts.
» Rachel Marsden (16-5) went a complete 7.0 innings and allowed no runs on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. She went 3-for-6 with two runs scored, one double, one triple and two RBIs at the plate.
» Lauren Aubry went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two doubles.
» Ashley Wruble went 3-for-8 with a triple and two RBIs.
» Eight different Red Flash players had at least one hit in the doubleheader.
 
TURNING POINTS OF GAME ONE
» Saint Francis started the scoring in the third inning when Aubry scored on a ball on the infield. Wagner responded in the bottom half on a Red Flash throwing error that tied the game at one.
» After a scoreless fourth inning, Aliya Garroway drove home a run with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth to regain the lead 2-1. Wruble followed with an RBI on a fielder's choice and opened a 3-1 lead.
» The Red Flash added two insurance runs in the seventh inning on a Savannah Nash single up the middle that opened a 5-1 lead.
» Vesco recorded the first two outs of the seventh inning before Allie Braly recorded the final out to clinch the four-run victory.
 
TURNING POINTS OF GAME TWO
» Marsden and Wagner pitcher Abby Moran combined for five shutout innings to begin game two.
» Saint Francis finally broke through on a Marsden two-run triple that scored Nash and Olivia Ulam in the sixth inning. Annabelle Farmer followed the next at-bat with an RBI single that opened a 3-0 lead.
» Wagner had two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the sixth before Marsden escaped the jam with a strikeout.
» The Red Flash added another run in the seventh inning on a Wruble RBI triple before Marsden shut down Wagner in the bottom half to secure the victory.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
» Saint Francis earned its fourth consecutive outright NEC Regular Season Champions title and sixth in the last seven seasons.
» The Red Flash reached 20 conference wins for the third time in program history. The 33 wins overall is sixth in program history.
» Vesco topped 150 strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season and now stands at 154. She is eight strikeouts shy of tying the program fifth-best single-season mark of 162 she set in 2022. Vesco recorded her third double-digit strikeout game of the season.
» Marsden topped 100 strikeouts for the fourth consecutive season and is now at 104. She raised her career total to 542, which is still 33 shy of second in program history.

UP NEXT
Saint Francis has its final road conference game of the season on Sunday in the series final against Wagner at 12 p.m.