MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 21, 2015) – Graduate student Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) ripped three hits in four at-bats with an RBI, but her effort fell just short as the Franklin Pierce University Ravens softball team dropped its fifth game in a row as they were defeated by the Saint Anselm College Hawks by a final score of 5-3 at South Athletic Field.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce now drops to 5-17 on the season (5-16 Northeast-10), while Saint Anselm improves to 19-7 (10-5 Northeast-10).

Saint Anselm held control of the game for a majority of the innings, grabbing the lead first in the second inning with a single and back-to-back doubles, courtesy of Julie LeClair, Hannah Byrne, and Kasey Moran. But Franklin Pierce would find a way to chip away against Hawks pitcher Tayla Trask in the top of the third.

Senior Alicia Dean (Danvers, Mass.) would score a one-out single up the middle, followed by freshman Cassidy Sorenson (Billerica, Mass.) reaching on an error. With both runners on first and second, junior Tricia Hansen (Mansfield, Mass.), also in the circle for the Ravens in the game, would put down a sacrifice bunt to move up Dean and Sorenson into scoring position. The tactic would work, as Wiley would rip the ball to the right side for a base hit, scoring Dean to make the score 2-1.

The Ravens would come back in the fourth and do the same, as they would able to tie the game at 2-2. Junior Erin Wood would rip a double into center field to open the inning, followed by a single to center by junior Morgan Cahill (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.). An error by the first baseman on the throw into the field would get botched, allowing Wood to score from third, and Cahill to advance to second.

The Hawks wouldn't let the game slip out of their clutches down the stretch, as Emily Crannell delievered a home run over the left field fence on a mistake pitch from Hansen, making the game 3-2. That would be the big blow Saint Anselm would need, as two singles and a double were able to manufacture two more runs, making the score 5-2.

However the Ravens would use their freshman tandem of Samantha Bonvino (Milford, Mass.) and Sorenson to plate another run in the sixth inning, but Franklin Pierce was unable to close the deficit down the stretch.

Trask would take the win in the circle for the Hawks, improving her record to 10-3, while the loss went to Hansen, moving her record to 3-6 on the season.

The Ravens now head to Colchester, Vt. tomorrow, April 22 for a double header against the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights beginning at 3 p.m.