WILMINGTON, Del. (5/11/23) – The No. 6 Franklin Pierce softball team opened their second trip to the NCAA East Regional Tournament with a showdown against No. 3 Georgian Court University, and fell to the Lions in a closely contested 4-3 final at Asbury Field in Wilmington, Delaware.

With the loss, the Ravens fall to 32-19 overall, and 0-1 in the East Regional. GCU improves to 38-19 with the win, and 1-0 in the pod.

The Ravens didn't need to put the ball in play to score the game's first run, as freshman Amy Jones (San Diego, Calif.) led off the opening inning with a walk. Shortly after, sophomore Bella Williams (Phoenix, Ariz.) pushed Jones to second after getting hit by a pitch, and then to third as the pair worked a double steal. In that sequence, a throwing error by the Georgian Court catcher plated Jones from third, giving the Ravens the 1-0 edge. Williams would also score on an RBI infield single from Haley Bigwood (Athol, Mass.), making it 2-0 through one inning of play.

After the Ravens came up empty in the top of the second, the Lions drew even with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third. The bats got to work with back-to-back lead-off doubles from Savannah Simons and Taylor Barraza, with Simons crossing home plate on the latter for the Lions' first run of the game. Barraza then scored two batters later on another double to right-center field by Jadalynn Rodriguez, tying the game at 2-2.

GCU then took the lead for the first time on the afternoon in the bottom of the third, after Kaitlyn Stufft found her way home after leading off the half inning with a double. The Lion lead would stay put through a scoreless fourth inning, before a fourth run would be delivered on a RBI base hit to left field by Taylor Barraza with runners at second and third.

Trailing 4-2, the Ravens snuck one in during the top of the sixth after GCU pitcher Janelle Blaszka plated a run after walking catcher Hailey Melchert (Lake Orion, Mich.) with the bases loaded, cutting the deficit down to 4-3. However, the Lions would shut it down defensively and hold off the Ravens the rest of the way through, claiming the win by a 4-3 score.

Junior Abby Poirot (Winstead, Conn.) took the circle for the start, and pitched through 1.2 innings with two runs allowed on three hits and two walks, striking out two batters. Taking the loss for the Ravens was freshman Savannah Arreguin (Pacoima, Calif.), who worked 2.1 innings while also surrendering two runs on three hits. Junior Samantha Sylvester (Morris, Conn.) finished out the final two innings, striking out two batters with a walk and two hits allowed. GCU starter Blaszka pitched the complete game for the Lions, and allowed three runs on two hits and four walks, fanning six Pierce batters.

The Ravens will now look to stave off elimination against the winner of the No. 2 Wilmington University and No. 7 Pace University matchup later in the afternoon, with gametime scheduled for Friday, May 12^th at 1:00 PM.