Griffin and Verner each homer in the first game

GAME 1 BOXSCORE

GAME 2 BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (April 9, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University softball team was swept in a doubleheader versus Pace on Saturday afternoon at the FPU Softball Field in Rindge. The Ravens rallied in both games before coming up short, including a 4-3 loss in game one and a 10-3 setback in game two. Franklin Pierce fell to 3-15 overall and 1-5 in the Northeast-10, while Pace improved to 14-10 and 6-2 in league play.

In game one, the Ravens found themselves trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning after the Setters had pushed across three runs in the top half of the frame to build the comfortable margin.

However, Franklin Pierce battled back and senior second baseman Emily Griffin (Leominster, Mass.) started the rally by smacking a solo home run over the left-field wall in the fifth.

An inning later, the Ravens would tack on two more runs to pull within 4-3 as Jamie Verner (Natick, Mass.) crushed a two-out pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run blast, also scoring Rachel Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) on the play. Baxter had reached base earlier in the frame on a fielder's choice. Junior outfielder Nicole Pratt (Gardner, Mass.) followed Verner by roping a double to left, but the Ravens could not push her across as Griffin flew out to right field to end the threat and the inning.

Franklin Pierce had one more good scoring chance in the seventh inning as Jayme Bilafer (Concord, Mass.) led off with a single and then advanced to second and into scoring position off Jamie Wiley's (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt. But again, Franklin Pierce could not come up with the crucial hit as a pair of strikeouts ended the threat and the game.

The Ravens out-hit the Setters by a count of 10-9, including getting three hits from Bilafer and two from Meaghan O'Neal (Littleton, Mass.).

Senior pitcher Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H.) got the start and went all seven innings, yielding four runs (only three earned) on nine hits with three walks and a strikeout, while taking the loss to fall to 2-7 on the year. Pace scratched out its first run in the second inning when Chelsea Shea scored off a passed ball. Shea also came up big for the Setters in the fifth as she stroked a two-run double to center field.

Shea, along with Lana Buchbinder, paced the Setters' offensive attack with two hits apiece. Shea's offensive production helped her cause as she was also the starting pitcher for Pace and earned the win after going seven innings and giving up just three runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and zero walks.

Game two seemed to take on a similar storyline as game one with Pace going up 4-0, before Franklin Pierce battled back with three runs in the fifth to pull within 4-3. Baxter singled to lead off the inning and eventually scored on an error by the Pace left-fielder. Anna Hoppe (North Hero, Vt.) drove in Rachel Allen (Hull, Mass.) later in the inning with a base-hit, and Franklin Pierce's final of the frame came when the Ravens pulled off a double-steal attempt with Griffin providing the decoy, thus allowing Alex Demsey (Maidstone, Vt.) to steal home from third.

Pace, though, didn't flinch and scored three times in both the sixth and seventh innings to put the game out of reach and clinch the doubleheader sweep. Jessica Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) got the start in the pitching circle for the Ravens and went 5.1 innings while allowing six runs on eight hits and suffering the loss.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Sunday when the Ravens play host to Adelphi in a doubleheader beginning at noon at the FPU Softball Field.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).