Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team split its Northeast Conference doubleheader with LIU Brooklyn on Saturday at LIU Softball Field. The Knights took the opener, 7-2, before dropping the nightcap, 6-4. With the split, FDU moves to 15-19 (5-5 NEC) on the season, while the Blackbirds go to 16-30 (6-6 NEC) overall. Both sides remain in a fourth-place tie in the conference standings.
 
Megan Reiner (Los Angeles, Calif./John Marshall) (11-7) earned the win for the Knights in game one after completing her 13th game of the season. She allowed two earned runs on five hits, walked two and struck out five.
 
LIU's Cassie Vondrak was hit hard in 6.1 innings of work, yielding seven runs, five earned, on 10 hits while walking two and fanning four.
 
FDU opened the scoring in the top of the second with three runs to take an early 3-0 lead. Junior Angelique Nieves (Union City, N.J./High Tech High School) led off the inning with a double to the right-center field gap and advanced to second when fellow classmate Bryana Dorado (Oxnard, Calif./Oxnard) was hit by a pitch. Freshman Madison Lerma (Escondido, Calif./Escondido) followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Nieves. With two outs in the frame, sophomore Julia Northcutt (Irvine, Calif./Northwood High School) reached on an LIU error at first base, which allowed Dorado and Lerma to score.
 
The Knights increased their lead to 4-0 in the top of the fourth when Dorado delivered a two-out RBI single to plate freshman Alex Portesi (Chino, Calif./Don Antonio Lugo).
 
In the top of the fourth, FDU would pull away from the Blackbirds, scoring three runs on a three-run triple by junior Cindy Zamudio (Wilmington, Calif./Redondo Union), as freshman Cheryl Lopez (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville), Northcutt, and Portesi all came around to score.
 
The Blackbirds scored their lone two runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI triple by Whitney West and Lauren Morizi RBI sacrifice fly.
 
Portesi, Lerma, and Dorado each recorded two hits to pace the Knights'10 hit-attack. Portesi added two runs, while Zamudio led the way with three RBI.
 
In game two, the FDU offense woke up late but could not complete the comeback against LIU.
 
The Blackbirds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Whitney West would score on an illegal pitch, before Jazmin Rodriguez later scored on a RBI groundout by Ariana Lopez.
 
LIU would plate another four runs on five hits in the bottom of the second on a RBI single by Nichole Toven, a two-run double from Morizi and Lopez's RBI singles to extend its advantage to 6-0.
 
The Knights began their attempt at a comeback in the top of the fifth, as they scored all four of their runs to slice the deficit to 6-4. Dorado scored on a throwing error by the shortstop on a double play attempt off the bat of sophomore Emma Deluca (Vernon, N.J./Vernon Township High School). After Northcutt singled to put runners on the corners, sophomore Madelaine Wilen (Bakerfield, Calif./Ridgeview High School) knocked a three-run homer over the left field fence. The round-tripper was her third of the season.
 
Redshirt senior Liz Woidt (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) singled to begin the top of the seventh, but FDU was unable to complete the comeback.
 
Samantha Lemm (Berlin, N.J./Eastern Regional High School) (1-5) was charged with the loss, lasting only 1.2 innings. She allowed six earned runs on seven hits. Lopez pitched the final 4.0 innings of relief and kept the Knights in the game with her scoreless appearance. She yielded just two hits, walked one and struck out two.
 
Shelley Proctor picked up the win for the Blackbirds in the complete-game performance. She allowed four earned runs on six hits, walked none and struck out five.
 
FDU will have a quick turnaround in NEC play, hosting Wagner Sunday afternoon in Hackensack, N.J. at the FDU Softball Field. Game one of the doubleheader is slated to begin at 12 p.m. Woidt and Lemm will be honored with a pregame ceremony on Senior Day.