Griffin drives in five runs in first game

CLERMONT, Fla. (March 16, 2010) – Freshman right-hander Lindsay Hodges (Sherburne, N.Y.) threw a five-hit shutout on Tuesday afternoon to lead the Franklin Pierce University softball team to a 8-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas in neutral-site, non-conference action at the National Training Center. Earlier in the day, junior second baseman Emily Griffin (Leominster, Mass.) pounded two doubles and a single, drove home three runs and scored three times as the Ravens ran up a 10-1 victory over Nyack. In between the two wins, Franklin Pierce dropped a 3-0 decision to Limestone.

In the first game of the day, Nyack opened up a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, but would not score again and was held to just two hits in the ballgame. Franklin Pierce would tie the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the third and the game would remain tied until the sixth inning. The Ravens offense would then erupt for four runs in the sixth and five more in the seventh to rack up the 10-1 win.

Leading the offense for Franklin Pierce were Griffin and sophomore outfielder Jayme Bilafer (Concord, Mass.), who knocked three singles and matched Griffin by driving home three runs. Sophomore third baseman Meaghan O'Neal (Littleton, Mass.) came up with three singles as well and drove in two runs, while sophomore outfielder Rachel Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) scored twice and drove in a pair of runs with her two singles. Senior first baseman Kiley Molinari (Meriden, Conn.) and junior outfielder Nicole Pratt (Gardner, Mass.) each had two singles and drove in two runs in the contest. In all, the Franklin Pierce offense finished up the game with 18 hits.

In the circle for Franklin Pierce, junior right-hander Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H.) tossed a two-hit complete game to pick up the win. She allowed one run, walked three and struck out seven.

In the second game, the Franklin Pierce bats went ice cold, as the Ravens went without a hit while falling to Limestone, 3-0. Limestone scored once in the second and twice in the third and never looked back.

Sophomore right-hander Jess Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) got the ball for Franklin Pierce in the second game. Over seven innings, she allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, walked one, hit two batters and struck out two.

The Ravens woke the bats back up in the final game of the day and used three runs in the third, one in the fourth and four in the fifth to force a five-inning, eight-run rule, 8-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas. Freshman Jessica Furtado (Taunton, Mass.) and sophomore first baseman Keryn Shannon (Dracut, Mass.) recorded a double and a single each, as Furtado drove home two runs and Shannon brought home one. O'Neal drove home two runs with a single, while Griffin brought home another with a base hit of her own. Freshman shortstop Aimee Lamoureux (East Brookfield, Mass.) rounded out the Franklin Pierce offense, as she scored twice and drove in a run with an RBI single.

Hodges pitched a five-hit shutout to pick up the win in the nightcap for the Ravens. Over five innings, she walked one and struck out two.

The Ravens return to the field on Thursday, March 18, when they play a pair of neutral-site, non-conference games at the National Training Center. Franklin Pierce will take on Caldwell at 9:30 a.m. and Philadelphia at 11:30 a.m.