Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

Staten Island, NY – Powered by a two-home run game from sophomore Kristen Matteoni (Reno, NV / Galena), the Wagner College softball team split a two-game set with Saint Francis (PA) today, dropping the first game 8-4, before knocking off the Red Flash, 7-3, on the opening weekend of Northeast Conference (NEC) softball.

The split moves the Seahawks record to 7-17 overall, with a 1-1 mark in the NEC, while the visitors from Western PA stay at .500 on the year at 11-11, and 1-1 in the league.

Both teams flew out of the gates in the day's opening game, as the Red Flash quickly got things started, putting up two runs on three hits in the top of the first inning, to jump to the early lead.

The Green & White came right back in their half of the inning, as both Brittany Huss (Anthem, AZ / Boulder Creek) and Ashley Rollins (Fairfax, VA / Fairfax) belted RBI singles, posting a three-run inning and taking the 3-2 lead.

Saint Francis tied the game up in the top of the second inning after a long double by Taylor Darneille transitioned into the team's third run.

The 3-3 tie would hold until the top of the fifth inning when Saint Francis' Kaitlin Andler blasted a Olivia Zwick (Surrey, Canada / Earl Marriot) offering over the centerfield fence to put the Red Flash back on top 4-3.

Freshman Kelsey Parker (Lynnwood, WA / Lynnwood) led off the bottom half of the fifth with her 21^st hit of the year, and scored three batters later when Rollins recorded her second hit of the day, lacing a double to right field to tie the score at four apiece.

The Red Flash finished their last two offensive innings posting another four runs off three hits and two Wagner errors to take a commanding 8-4 lead. The SFU defense took care of its part, allowing just one Wagner hit in the final two frames to seal the four-run victory.

Zwick was credited with her fifth loss of the season, as the freshman moves to 2-5 on the season.

To start game two, head coach Glen Payne elected to go to his other freshman starter, Samantha Bedker (Phoenix, AZ / Sandra Day O'Connor), who was searching for her second win of the year. After allowing a leadoff double to start the game, the first-year righty retired the next three Red Flash hitters to eliminate any threat.

In the bottom of the first for Wagner, Matteoni opened up the game with a bang, taking a Megan Layne pitch deep over the centerfield wall for her second homer of the year. Matteoni tallied her second RBI of the day in the bottom of the second, when an infield single scored senior Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy), putting Wagner up 2-0.

As Bedker held strong in the circle, her team's offense began to come alive, as the Green & White pulled away in the bottom of the fourth inning, racking up four runs on four hits, including a double by Olsen, a two-run single by MacKenzie Alfaro (Riverside, CA / Riverside), a sacrifice fly by Jessica Albarran (Corona, CA / Eleanor Roosevelt), and another RBI single by Huss. Matteoni also notched her third hit of the game early in the inning with her team-leading 24 hit of the year.

The six-run deficit was cut in half by the Red Flash in the top of the fifth and sixth innings, as the visitors clawed back into the game putting up three runs on five hits, taking the game into the final few at bats.

Matteoni gave the Seahawks one final insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning, where she again led off the frame with a solo homerun over the centerfield wall for her second of the day and third of the year, capping off a 4-for-4 day at the plate.

Bedker took care of the Red Flash in the top of the seventh inning to cap off the Seahawks first NEC win, 7-3. The victory gave Bedker her second complete-game win of the year, facing 31 batters, allowing eight hits and striking out two.

The Seahawks will be back in action tomorrow, Sunday, March 25, when they host the Colonials of Robert Morris in another NEC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon.