The junior righthander tosses a two-hit shutout in second game of the day

Boxscore Game One
Boxscore Game Two

RINDGE, N.H. (April 19, 2008) - Junior Courtney Jacobs (Fitchburg, Mass./Fitchburg) scattered two hits and struck out 10 batters as Franklin Pierce University earned a split with Pace University in a Northeast-10 Conference softball doubleheader on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Franklin Pierce Softball Field. After falling in the first game, 5-3, the Ravens came back to earn a 3-0 in the second game of the day behind Jacobs.

Freshman Emily Griffin (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) was excellent at the plate for Franklin Pierce, hitting 5-for-7 (.714) with three doubles, two runs batted in and a run scored. Junior Elaine Matthews (Roslindale, Mass./Archbishop Williams) also went 2-for-5 with a triple, scored once and drove in a run.

Junior Christina Pane (Stony Point, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) had a team-high three hits in eight at-bats to lead the Setters, driving in a run and scoring once.

Pace 5, Franklin Pierce 3 (Game One)

To begin the afternoon, Pace had a 5-0 lead headed into the bottom of the seventh inning but barely fended off a fierce Franklin Pierce rally to escape with a 5-3 win.

Junior righthander Kiryl Shada (Pleasant Prairie, Wisc./Tremper) baffled the Raven hitters on the afternoon, giving up two hits and striking out seven in six scoreless innings. After freshman Alicia Parlon (Norton, Mass./Norton) ran into trouble in the seventh inning, Shada saved her own game by re-entering to get the final out.

Freshman Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) gave up five runs (three earned) in seven innings for Franklin Pierce to take the loss (3-10), despite giving up only five hits on the day.

Three of the Setters' first four runs crossed the plate on passed balls, including two in a three-run third inning that gave the visitors a 4-0 lead through three. Junior Tricia Allutto (Matawan, N.J./Matawan Regional) doubled in the team's fourth run with a two-out strike to right field.

After adding a run in the top of the seventh, Parlon came on to pitch the seventh and nearly gave the game away. Matthews led off with a double and the Ravens quickly loaded the bases with no outs, but a pair of pop-ups dulled the team's momentum. Griffin followed with a two-run double and junior Jackie Prybella (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) added an RBI single to bring the tying run to the plate, but Shada returned to the circle to induce a pop-up from senior captain Kate Surgen (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) to end the game.

Franklin Pierce 3, Pace 0 (Game Two)

Jacobs was just as dominant as Shada in the second game of the day, however, retiring the last eight batters and allowing no Setter to reach third base on her way to a 3-0 shutout victory. Jacobs (3-11) picked up her first shutout of the season and third of her career with one of her best outings of the season, striking out 10 and giving up only three walks.

Freshman Christina Rescigno (Elmsford, N.Y./Good Counsel Academy) took the loss (5-5) for Pace, giving up three earned runs on three hits in two-plus innings. Shada came on in relief and didn't allow a run over the final four innings, but the Ravens had already built up a lead and Jacobs made it stand up.

Griffin was 3-for-3 in the second game, and got on base to lead off both Raven rallies on the afternoon. She began the bottom of the first with a long double to left-center and was sacrificed to third by Prybella before Surgen drove her in with a sacrifice fly to left for the game-winning run.

Franklin Pierce struck for two more in the third inning to complete the scoring. The Ravens loaded the bases with none out before Shada came on in relief, and an RBI single by Matthews and a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Stephanie Howard (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) gave the home team two key insurance runs.

Franklin Pierce (6-28, 5-15 NE-10) will head out on the road for six games beginning tomorrow with a doubleheader at Southern Connecticut State University beginning at 1 p.m. Pace (20-16, 9-11 NE-10) will play two against non-conference opponent Dominican College (N.Y.) on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.