HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team walked off with an 11-inning victory in its home opener, winning 3-2 after dropping the first game of the doubleheader to Sacred Heart 5-1.
 
The Knights (8-21, 1-1 NEC) initially tied the late game with a Holly Mercier RBI double in the fourth inning and later answered a Sacred Heart run in the 10th inning with another RBI hit, this time a single by Summer Mendoza, to keep the game going into the 11th inning.
 
Sophomore Abby England held the Pioneers (15-14, 1-1 NEC) from scoring in the top half of the inning, and with sophomore Rylie Schmeh placed on second, freshman Jillian Ward sacrificed her to third, and freshman  Courtney Mahoney drove her home with a RBI groundball to short to win the game for the Knights.
 
England picked up the victory, moving her record to 3-3 on the season after pitching the final two innings without allowing a hit and striking out three batters. Junior Erica Johnson had pitched the first nine innings of the game, allowing two unearned runs on six hits and four walks while striking out three as well.
 
Mercier was the only Knight with multiple hits on the day, also collecting a single in the first game. Mahoney finished the day with two RBIs, driving in the Knights' lone run of the first game with a RBI single in the third inning.
 
FDU fell behind 2-0 in the first game, allowing a run to score on an error and a RBI single. Mahoney then answered with her RBI base knock to center to cut the deficit to one run, but the Pioneers came up with a big two-out double with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to clear the bases and make it 5-1. The Knights were then set down in order the next two innings to close the game out.
 
Senior Baylee Ports struck out six batters in 5.2 innings of work in the loss, allowing 10 hits and five runs (four earned) to go with two walks. England also came in relief in the opening game, allowing only one hit and recording a strikeout in the final 1.1 innings.
 
Johnson surrendered a first-inning run to the Pioneers after two FDU errors, but the junior then matched Sacred Heart's Emily Orosco with zeros through the next two innings. Mercier later tied the game with a line drive double to left that scored Mahoney, who started the rally with a walk.
 
After the first inning, Johnson retired 10 of her next 11 batters before allowing a walk in the sixth inning, but she pitched around the leadoff runner to keep the game scoreless. Sacred Heart again threatened with singles that put runners on the corners with one out, but Johnson induced a popup to first base and then struck out the next batter to end the threat.
 
The Knights twice put a runner on second with the score tied at 1-1. Schmeh doubled in the fifth but was unable to score, and senior Reanna Cervantes also knocked a double to right center in the ninth inning but was unable to cross home plate.
 
With international tiebreaker rules taking effect starting in the 10th inning, the Pioneers scored a go-ahead run on a RBI single, but England then came on and retired each of the next three batters. The Knights advanced their runner in the bottom half of the inning to third, setting up Mendoza's RBI single that trickled under the glove of the pitcher and forced a dive by the second baseman, bringing home Mercier and tying the game again at 2-2.
 
England then proceeded to strikeout two of the three batters in the Pioneer half of the 11th, and the Knights took advantage with the walk-off groundout in the 11th.
 
The 11-inning affair was the longest game for the Knights since going 10 innings in a 9-4 win over Saint Francis U back in 2014.
 
The Knights continue their homestand on Sunday against another NEC rival, LIU Brooklyn, with the doubleheader starting at 3 p.m., barring any change due to bad weather.