Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - For the second straight day, the Fairleigh Dickinson softball team split a Northeast Conference doubleheader. Sunday, the Knights split a twin bill with the Pioneers of Sacred Heart.

The Knights built an early lead in game one and hung on late to win. The Pioneers chipped away at the Knights lead in game two before taking the lead for good late in the second game.

Fairleigh Dickinson is now 11-26 overall and 4-4 in NEC play. Sacred Heart sits at 12-30-2 and 3-9 in the NEC.

Game One (Fairleigh Dickinson 5, Sacred Heart 3)
Fairleigh Dickinson scored three times in the top of the second inning to take the early lead.

Courtney Slye (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) doubled to center to bring in Reanna Cervantes (Upland, Calif./Upland) to make it 1-0. Three batters later, Serena Meehan (Couina, Calif./Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary) reached on a fielder's choice and Slye scored on an error. Madelaine Wilen (Bakersfield, Calif./Ridgeview) made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Cheryl Lopez (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville).

Sacred Heart responded by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it a one-run ballgame.

Kellie Natham (Arcadia, Calif./Maranatha) came to bat in the fifth and added some insurance for the Knights. The freshman hit her third home run of the season to make it a 5-2 game.

The Pioneers tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the seventh. The home team got one across but Hailey Desrosiers -- the tying run -- flew out to end the game.

Seven-of-the-nine starters for the Knights had at least one hit -- Slye was the lone Knight with multiple.

Baylee Ports (Shaftsbury, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) (2-1) pitched five innings of relief to earn the win. The freshman allowed one run and allowed only two hits.

Game 2 (Sacred Heart 7, Fairleigh Dickinson 4)
Fairleigh Dickinson did all of its scoring in the first inning. Madelaine Wilen (Bakersfield, Calif./Ridgeview) started the game by reaching on a dropped third strike. Wilen scored when the Pioneers' first baseman made an error on a ball hit by Francine Villalobos (Danville, Calif./San Ramon Valley). Wilen has scored at least 25 times in back-to-back seasons.

Villalobos scored on an RBI single from Kellie Natham (Arcadia, Calif./Maranatha) to make it 2-0 and will no one out. Reanna Cervantes (Upland, Calif./Upland) doubled to bring in Natham. Cervantes would then make it 4-0 when she scored after a throwing error by the catcher on her steal of third base.

Sacred Heart got on the board in the bottom of the first on a passed ball. The Pioneers would then make it a one-run game in the second after a sacrifice fly and a single.

Neither team would score until Sacred Heart tied the game at four in the bottom of the fifth. The pioneers got a RBI double from Victoria D'Addario.

The Pioneers took the lead for good in the sixth on a Fallon Bevino double to left that brought home two Pioneers and made it 6-4. A fielder's choice led to the seventh run for the Pioneers in the sixth.

Jamie Carlson (5-13) picked up the win for the Pioneers. She went the distance and allowed the four runs -- only one earned. Loren Stavrou (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson Classical) (3-10) allowed three runs -- all earned -- after coming on in the fifth and was credited with the loss.

Fairleigh Dickinson is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Manhattan for its final non-conference doubleheader of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.