TUSCON, Ariz. (February 18, 2018) – The Franklin Pierce University softball team ended their trip to the Cactus Classic on Sunday with a tripleheader. The Ravens drew losses in all three games but went a full seven innings in a 2-1 loss to no. 9 nationally-ranked Dixie State University in their first game of the day.

FPU was defeated in their final two games of the winter excursion to the desert by an 11-4 score versus Western Oregon University and a five frame 17-5 setback to Southern Nazarene University.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Rooney (Shirley, Mass.) plated two runs on Sunday with a 4-for-8 (.500) performance at the dish. Teammate Ashley Conway (Salem, N.H.) led the squad with a .571 (4-for-7) batting average and two runs scored. Senior outfielder Cassidy Sorenson (Billerica, Mass.) hit .429 with a team-best two doubles and one RBI.

In both of her starts this weekend, freshman right-handed hurler Cyrena Zemaitis (Goshen, Conn.) compiled a 2.69 ERA across 13 innings with 16 punch-outs and an 8.62 strikeout per seven-inning mark.

Game One: #9 Trailblazers 2, Ravens 1 (Final)

Zemaitis was in the circle for the first showdown of the day and she didn't disappoint during a tall test against the no. 9 Trailblazers. The freshman spun six innings of two-run ball posting six strikeouts in the 2-1 setback. Conway went 1-for-2 with a walk at the dish as she scored the only Raven run while second basemen Ashley Rosario (Queensbury, N.Y.) was 1-for-2 with the lone Raven RBI.

Dixie State began the game when Bassett tripled to right center field. Godfrey followed with a single through the left side to plate Basset for the first run of the game. With no outs and a runner standing on first, Zemaitis stranded the runner by inducing a pop out and sending two batters down by way of the K to conclude the bottom of the first.

In the top half of the second, the Ravens immediately earned the run back. Conway led off the frame poking a single through the gap between short and third base. She promptly took second on a wild pitch with Jaclyn Cortese (Upton, Mass.) batting. Cortese dropped a sacrifice bunt to send Conway to third before Rosario ripped a single up the middle to bring Conway home. Rooney kept the line moving with a single to right. Two runners were in scoring position for the Crimson and Grey with two down following another sacrifice bunt, but Sorenson struck out swinging to end the Raven threat.

Dove, the starting hurler for the Trailblazers settled down and held the Ravens to only one more hit which came in the top half of the seventh after the designated home team regained the lead following a Bartholf single in the bottom of the sixth.

Game Two: Wolves 11, Ravens 4 (Final)

Rooney was 1-for-3 in the second game against Western Oregon driving home two runs. Sorenson was a perfect 2-for-2 with a free pass and an RBI. The top of the lineup for the Wolves combined for six hits in seven at-bats to go along with four total runs scored, two walks and an RBI.

Western Oregon rolled a five-spot in the top half of the first as a two-RBI single by Mariah Deleon moved the Wolves ahead 3-0. A Raven error and a passed ball accounted for two more runs before three consecutive outs ended the inning. FPU earned two of those runs right back when Conway sacrificed Bre Eastlick (Rocklin, Calif.) home and Sorenson plated Jillian Ostrander (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) with a two-bagger. The Wolves tacked on single runs in the top of the second and third before dropping a four-spot in the top of the sixth to pull away from FPU.

Game Three: Crimson Storm 17, Ravens 5 (Final – 5 Innings)

The freshman duo of Gina Hinckley (Lancaster, Mass.) and backstop Rachel Vecchiarelli (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) combined to go 3-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI in the defeat to Southern Nazarene. The Crimson Storm bats exploded for six runs in the top of the first as a Schlarb double cleared the bases.

Franklin Pierce cut the deficit in half during their next turns at the plate as Vecchiarelli smoked a two-bagger down the right field line to plate Rooney who reached via single. Vecchiarelli came around to score when Jess Rego (Richmond, R.I.) advanced to second on a dropped fly ball error by the Crimson Storm shortstop. Eastlick tacked on the third run of the inning plating Rego with an RBI knock up the middle.

Ahead by four, 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth, eight hits, mostly singles led to 10 runs for the home squad as they built an insurmountable edge.

The Ravens head back to the diamond in a few weeks when they take on Saint Thomas Aquinas for in a twinbill on Tuesday, March 6 at 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce softball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).