Ashley Noke drives in a run with a base hit in game two

RINDGE, N.H. (April 11, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University softball team struggled offensively on Wednesday in dropping a doubleheader to Saint Anselm. The Hawks took game one, 3-0, and then exploded for a 12-3 triumph in only five innings in game two at the FPU Softball Field in Rindge. Franklin Pierce dipped to 9-20 overall and 7-13 in the Northeast-10, while Saint Anselm improved to 14-18 and 8-8 in league play.

Tayla Trask pitched a gem for the Hawks in game one as she went the distance and scattered just three hits while running her record to 5-3 with the victory. She struck out just two batters, but showed great command by walking zero Franklin Pierce hitters.

Trask retired Franklin Pierce in order four times, including a 1-2-3 seventh to close out the win. She allowed just two Franklin Pierce runners to get into scoring position the entire contest. One of those came from senior second baseman Meaghan O'Neal (Littleton, Mass.), who doubled to right field to lead off the sixth inning.

Saint Anselm got the only runs it would need in the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Monique Gauthier and Lauren Galavotti. The Hawks tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Gauthier scored on a Franklin Pierce error.

Rachel Allen (Hull, Mass.) took to the pitching circle for the Ravens and was tagged with the loss (3-9) despite turning in a solid effort. She went all seven innings, giving up the three runs (only two earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Saint Anselm used its bats to pound out the game two victory. The Hawks scored 11 times in the top of the first inning and never looked back in picking up the five-inning win. The highlights of the explosive first inning came from Gauthier, who launched a two-run homer, and an Olivia Story grand slam, which stayed just inside the left-field foul pole. Saint Anselm's attack was also aided later in the frame by three-consecutive RBI doubles from Hayley Lombard, Nicole Boucher and Gauthier.

Alexis Bogdanovich started in the circle for Saint Anselm and went the distance to earn the win and run her record to 5-8 on the year. She yielded three runs (only one earned) on three hits with six strikeouts and zero walks.

The only trouble Bogdanovich ran into came in the fourth inning when the Ravens were able to scratch out a trio of runs. Senior Rachel Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) singled to begin the inning and eventually scored on a Saint Anslem error. Junior Megan Bird (Laconia, N.H.) laid down a successful RBI sacrifice bunt to plate another run and sophomore Ashley Noke (Cumberland, R.I.) capped Franklin Pierce's scoring with an RBI single.

Freshman Jessica Colson (Feeding Hills, Mass.) started in the circle for Franklin Pierce and was saddled with the loss to fall to 4-8 on the year. She lasted just one-third of an inning, allowing six runs on six hits.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to New York to face Adelphi 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/FranklinPierceRavens).