The St. Lawrence University softball team earned a split in the second day of its spring trip in Ft. Myers, Florida.  The Saints came up short in the early game, losing to Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-2.  However, clutch hitting helped the Scarlet and Brown capture a 9-6 victory over Albright College in the second game. 

Early in the first contest, first-year student Caroline Kieltyka delivered a base hit to center that scored sophomore Chelsea Cavellier and senior Megan Goodemote to give the Saints the early 2-0 lead in the first inning. 

Stevens answered with two runs of its own in the first and then looked to take a one run lead in the second when Danielle DeFeo tried to score from first base on a single by Molly Herforth.  However, a successful relay by first-year student Becky Allen and senior Melissa Rogers allowed Cavellier to get the runner out at the plate on a tag play to preserve the 2-2 tie and end the inning. 

Though the Saints produced base runners, they were unable to push them across the plate for the remainder of the game.  In the bottom of the seventh with runners on first and second, a Saint miscue on the infield allowed the game-winning run to cross the plate. 

Although Goodemote was credited with the loss, she only gave up six hits in seven innings and recorded eight strikeouts. 

After seeing a quick three outs in their first at bats of the second game, the Saints began to click as they batted around the line-up in the second inning. 

Sophomore Liz McGinley started the Saints offensive outing when she scored Goodemote on a base hit to left field.  Senior Rachel Duffany and junior Dani Durocher each gathered hits to load the bases for first-year student Leslie Stratton who delivered a base clearing triple to right field to give the Saints an early 4-0 lead.  Sophomore Lauren Weisbarth hit Stratton in to make it 5-0 in the bottom of the second. 

Albright responded in the top of the third with three runs and added another in the fourth to bring the score to 5-4.  In the top of the fifth, Albright took a one-run advantage when two players scored on a misplayed ball by a Saint outfielder. 

St. Lawrence made up for the miscue by coming out strong offensively in the bottom of the fifth when Weisbarth laid down a drag bunt to reach first.  She was advanced by Rogers who hit a base hit to left field.  Goodemote singled to center field to score Weisbarth, and then McGinley delivered a double to center to clear the bases to give the Saints a 8-6 cushion.

The Saints tacked on another run in the sixth when Rogers hit a double to center field to score Stratton.  Solid defense down the stretch allowed Duffany to claim her first win of the season. 

The Saints will battle Smith College and Salem State tomorrow,  March 14th, at 9:00am and 11:00 am.