SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team allowed only two runs in two games at Sacramento State but were held scoreless themselves in suffering 1-0 losses to Marist and Sacramento State.
 
The Knights (5-16) totaled 10 hits in the two games and also only allowed 10 hits, with both Knight pitchers throwing complete games. Senior Serena Meehan was 2-for-3 against Marist to lead the Knights offensively in the first game, while sophomore Madison Emerson garnered all three Knight hits against Sacramento State, including her first double of the season.
 
Junior Erica Johnson pitched three no-hit innings to start the game against Marist, striking out five of the first nine batters she faced. The Knights managed four hits in the first four innings on offense, with Meehan hitting two singles. Her second single almost resulted in a RBI, but the Red Foxes (6-6) threw out freshman Jillian Ward as she tried to score to end the threat.
 
Marist then responded in the bottom half of the fourth with the lone run of the game on a RBI single, but Johnson limited the damage to just the lone run by recording a strikeout with the bases loaded and two outs.
 
Junior Summer Mendoza then singled in the fifth but was left on base, and the Knights mounted one last rally in the seventh when senior Holly Mercier led off with a single and sophomore Logan Kolehmainen advanced her with a single of her own. The next two Knights, however, were retired to end the game.
 
Johnson finished her complete game with seven strikeouts while giving up only three hits and a walk. Sophomore Rylie Schmeh and senior Reanna Cervantes also singled, with Cervantes collecting the 135th hit of her career and moving her into a tie for fourth on FDU's all-time hits list.
 
Against Sacramento State, senior Baylee Ports held her opponent scoreless through the first eight innings, allowing only one hit and a walk through the first four frames. The Knights, however, managed only a single by Emerson and two walks in the first four innings to warrant a scoreless start to the game.
 
Mercier then walked to start the fifth inning and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Amarys Miller-Godsey. Ward then walked to put runners on first and second, but the Hornets then struck out the next two Knight hitters to end the threat. Ports then pitched around a single and a walk to keep the game tied through five innings.
 
Emerson singled again in the sixth inning but was not able to score, and Ports retired the Hornets (12-11) in order to maintain the scoreless tie. Ports later induced a popup to third in the seventh with runners on first and second and two outs that sent the game to extra innings.
 
Playing under international tiebreaker rules, neither team was able to push their respective runner on second across in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Emerson smashed a double to center that moved Meehan to third, and freshman Courtney Mahoney reached on a bunt to load the bases. The Hornets, however, then induced force out at home on a ground ball to second and a then a strikeout to escape the inning.
 
The first batter of the ninth for the Hornets ended the game with a single that allowed the winning run to score from second.
 
Ports struck out six batters in tossing eight innings while giving up seven hits and three walks.
 
The Knights conclude their California trip with two games tomorrow at UC Davis, facing Marist again at 9:30 a.m. PST (12:30 p.m. EST), before facing the host Aggies at noon PST (3 p.m. EST).