AUSTIN, Texas – Saint Francis University softball defeated Siena 1-0 before a 5-1 loss to Northwestern that ended a historic 2024 season for the Red Flash.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
» Grace Vesco (20-8) earned the win over Siena after she went 7.0 innings and allowed no runs on three hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts.  
» Rachel Marsden (19-6) went 6.0 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts. She also added one double and one RBI at the plate.
» Kaylie Walters went 2-for-5 with one walk.
» Ashley Wruble and Lexi Hernandez each went 2-for-6 and Wruble added one RBI.
 
TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME (Siena)
» Vesco and Siena pitcher Alissa Eimont completed three scoreless innings before Saint Francis broke through in the fourth.
» Savannah Nash led off the inning with a single and advanced to third after a Hernandez single. Marsden then drove home Nash on a checked swing RBI groundout for a 1-0 lead.
» Siena then loaded the bases in the fifth inning before Vesco produced a groundout to escape the jam.
» With two outs in the seventh, Siena produced a single and a walk before Vesco ended the game with her 10th strikeout.
 
TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME (Northwestern)
» Northwestern took an early lead in the first inning behind a run scored on a fielder's choice and RBI groundout for a 2-0 lead.
» Saint Francis cut the deficit in half when Wruble drove home Lauren Aubry in the third inning.
» After a scoreless fourth inning, Northwestern added another run on a home run in the sixth. The Wildcats added two more runs on a single up the middle for a 5-1 lead and held it for the remainder of the game.
 
FLASH NUGGETS
» Saint Francis won its second NCAA Regionals game in program history, joining the 2017 team who defeated New Mexico State, 8-4.
» As a team, Saint Francis set a program record with 352 strikeouts, finished second in with 41 wins, a .303 batting average, 100 stolen bases and third with a 1.81 ERA.
» Vesco set a new single-season program record with 201 strikeouts. She broke her own record of 196 set during the 2021 season. She ended tied for third with 20 victories and her 1.28 ERA is also third.
» Ashley Orischak set a new program record with a .550 on-base percentage. She was hit by an NCAA-high 28 pitches this season.
» Marsden finished the season with 19 victories that was tied for fourth in program history.

UP NEXT
Saint Francis' 2024 season came to an end, while Northwestern advanced to the Austin Regional Championship Sunday against Texas.