DAVIS, Calif. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team concluded its California trip Saturday with a close 7-6 defeat against Marist followed by a 5-0 loss to host UC Davis.
 
The Knights (5-18) tallied the first six runs of the game to take a 6-0 lead into the middle of the sixth inning, but the Red Foxes (7-7) scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game and then walked off with the winning run an inning later.
 
FDU was then held to four hits in their loss to the Aggies (20-5), who scored one run in the second to take a lead and then tallied two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to add to their lead.
 
Sophomore Rylie Schmeh finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a RBI against Marist, and freshman Courtney Mahoney went 2-for-3 with a double against UC Davis to lead the Knights offensively.
 
In the Marist game, the Knights struck first with a run in the third inning. Freshman Riley De Laval got the rally started with a walk, and Schmeh singled. After junior Madison Emerson moved the runners over on a sacrifice bunt, De Laval scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 Knights.
 
Sophomore Abby England kept the Red Foxes off the scoreboard through five innings, allowing only five hits while striking out four batters. The Knights meanwhile added to their lead when Emerson roped a ball down the right field line that scored Schmeh and gave Emerson her first triple of the season along with a RBI. Emerson later scored off a Serena Meehan bunt, and the Knights added another run when sophomore Logan Kolehmainen stole home, making the FDU lead 4-0.
 
Schmeh added further to the lead with a RBI double in the fifth that scored freshman Amarys Miller-Godsey, and the sophomore later scored on an error to make it 6-0. The Red Foxes, however, strung together seven hits in the sixth inning to climb all the back and tie the game.
 
The Knights put two runners on base in the top of the seventh, but a lineout with runners on second and third and two outs ended the threat. Marist then scored the winning run in the bottom half of the inning to come away with the victory.
 
Against the host Aggies, FDU in two different innings advanced a baserunner into scoring position but could not produce a run. Senior Reanna Cervantes singled to lead off the fourth inning for her 136th career hit, and Meehan singled in the seventh to represent the Knights' two non-Mahoney hits in the game.
 
Senior Baylee Ports started in the circle for the Knights and allowed four runs in 4.1 innings on five hits while striking out one batter. Junior Erica Johnson allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts in 1.2 innings of relief.
 
The Knights return to New Jersey after 11 days in California, and their next games take them to Saint Peter's for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 19, starting at 1 p.m.