VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team picked up a split Tuesday afternoon against the Villanova Wildcats, winning game one 8-2 and losing game two 9-1. The Knights record moves to 15-24 (6-6 NEC) on the year.
FDU returns to action this weekend when they head out to Western Pa. for a slate of makeup games against Robert Morris and Saint Francis U beginning Saturday, May 5.
Game One: Fairleigh Dickinson 8, Villanova 2
The Knights opened up a 5-0 lead with an early barrage in the top of the first inning and never looked back, keeping their foot on the gas as Baylee Ports cruised to her eighth win of the season in game one.
Despite hitting into a pair of ground outs to lead off the game, the FDU bats remained disciplined at the plate, rattling off a five-hit, five run outburst that gave the Knights a big lead early.
Madison Emerson and Holly Mercier smacked back-to-back singles to put runners in scoring position for Reanna Cervantes, who drew a walk to load the bases and bring Serena Meehan to the plate. Meehan drove a single into the left field gap to score Mercier before a Riley Schmeh triple cleared the bases and put the Knights up 4-0.
Amber VanderGoot added a fifth run for good measure on an RBI single to cap off the offensive outburst.
The Knights added a 6th run in the third off of an infield error before Meehan pushed the lead to 9-0 on an RBI double. The Wildcats managed to recoup a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, however Erica Johnson appeared in relief to shut they door for FDU, retiring six of seven batters over the final two frames.
Meehan led the Knights at the plate, going 2-4 with four RBIs.
Game Two: Villanova 9, Fairleigh Dickinson 1 (Five Innings)
The Wildcats flipped the script on the Knights in game two, smacking 11 hits to down FDU in five frames.
An early 2-0 lead for Villanova in the first inning grew to three in the second before the Wildcats broke the game wide open with a five-hit, four run third that pushed the deficit to 7-0 for the Knights.
FDU began to chip away at the lead in the fourth, putting runners in scoring position for Jaymee Jackson, who drove in the Knights first run off an RBI single.
It would be the only offense the Knights could muster however, as the Wildcats added two more runs for good measure to take game two 9-1.
