Rachel Baxter has two hits and an RBI in game one

GAME 1 BOXSCORE

GAME 2 BOXSCORE

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 14, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University softball team dropped two heart-breaking games Thursday afternoon in a doubleheader sweep against American International in Springfield, Mass. AIC hit a two-run, walkoff home run in game one to win, 5-4, and then scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning in game two to pick up a 4-3 triumph. Franklin Pierce fell to 5-21 overall and 3-11 in the Northeast-10, while AIC improved to 13-15 and 9-5 in league play.

In game one, the Ravens jumped out to a 3-0 lead following two-and-a-half innings of play. Jamie Verner (Natick, Mass.) plated the game's first run in the second inning when she lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Rachel Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) on the play. Baxter had reached base earlier in the frame as she was hit by a pitch. Baxter drove in one of the Ravens' two runs in the third inning as she smacked a double down the left-field line, scoring Ashley Noke (Cumberland, R.I.), who singled a few batters earlier.

However, AIC scored a run in both the third and fourth innings to pull within 3-2. Franklin Pierce pushed a run across in the fifth as Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) singled to lead off the frame and eventually scored on a fielding error by the Yellow Jackets. But American International would answer, again, with a run in the bottom half of the frame to get within 4-3.

The Ravens couldn't add to their lead in the sixth or seventh innings, which enabled AIC to pull off the come-from-behind win in the last frame. Sarah Calgreen led off the bottom half of the seventh with a double to right-center field, and Stephanie Belanger followed by stepping to the plate and launching a blast over the left-field wall to complete the comeback victory.

Noke, Baxter and Meaghan O'Neal (Littleton, Mass.) each had two hits apiece for Franklin Pierce. Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H.) started in the pitching circle and went 4.0 innings, yielding three runs (two earned) on five hits. However, she did not factor into the decision as Rachel Allen (Hull, Mass.) came on in relief and worked the last two-plus innings and suffered the loss after allowing the two-run homer in the seventh.

To Franklin Pierce's credit, the Ravens didn't fold and battled hard in game two. Franklin Pierce took a 1-0 lead in the third as Emily Griffin (Leominster, Mass.) stroked an RBI single back through the middle of the infield, scoring Alexa Demsey (Maidstone, Vt.).

Wiley put the Ravens up 2-0 in the top of the sixth with an RBI double, but AIC got a run back in the bottom half of the frame following an RBI groundout from Katie Merrill. The Yellow Jackets would send the game to extra innings in the bottom of the seventh as they tied the game at 2-2 when Michele Niejadlik dropped an RBI single into right field.

Neither team would score until the 10th inning when Franklin Pierce went up 3-2 in the top half of the frame following Verner's RBI sacrifice fly, scoring Jessica Furtado (Taunton, Mass.). However, AIC would pull out another come-from-behind triumph in the bottom of the 10th when Ashleigh St. Peter tied it with an RBI single and eventually scored the winning run on a fielder's choice attempt.

Jessica Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) started in the circle for Franklin Pierce and went 9.1 innings, giving up four runs (only one earned) on 14 hits, while suffering the loss. Erin Gilkes pitched the final 2.2 innings in relief for AIC and earned the win.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to Albany, N.Y., to face Saint Rose in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce softball, 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).