NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team totaled 17 hits in a doubleheader at Central Connecticut State, including 10 that helped produce 10 runs in the second game that led to a 10-2 victory and a split of the twinbill.
 
The Knights (11-30, 3-7 NEC) only had one fewer hit than the Blue Devils (15-17, 2-6 NEC) but fell victim to three double plays in the first game that stymied potential big innings, and the Blue Devils capitalized on their chances to win the first game, 8-1.
 
The Knights bounced back in a big way though in the later game, with freshman Amarys Miller-Godsey smacking her first career home run to provide an early lead. FDU then poured in six runs in the fourth inning to build a cushion for senior Baylee Ports, who earned her fifth win of the season.
 
Ports allowed only four hits and two runs, both unearned, while striking out four in garnering the complete-game win. She did not allow a run after the second inning, retiring 10 of the last 11 batters she faced.
 
Miller-Godsey and senior Holly Mercier each collected three hits in the victory. Miller-Godsey totaled a season-high five RBI, including three on her roundtripper, while Mercier scored three runs and drove in two more to go with a double as well. Senior Serena Meehan went 2-for-3 in both games, batting in and scoring two runs each in the victory.
 
Six different Knights had a hit in the opening game, as junior Summer Mendoza led the way by going 2-for-3 with a double. Meehan also went 2-for-3, while Mercier and sophomore Rylie Schmeh knocked a base hit to collect hits in both games as well.
 
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a RBI single in the first inning, but sophomore Abby England limited the damage to just the one run by recording a strikeout to end the frame. England then produced the first baserunner for the Knights with a walk in the next half inning, but CCSU induced a double play that ended the inning.
 
Carley Stoker then added to the Blue Devil lead with a two-run homer in the next half inning, making it 3-0. Mercier beat out an infield hit to start the third inning, but CCSU again turned a double play before Mendoza roped a double to the left field wall. Schmeh then lined a single into right, and Mendoza beat the throw home to cut the deficit to 3-1.
 
CCSU hit another home run in the third to put their lead back up to three runs and later increased the lead to 5-1 on a double steal. The Knights then put runners on first and second in the next frame, but junior Irene Herrera, in her first career at-bat, lined a ball that the CCSU pitcher tipped off her glove to set up a double play that ended the FDU half of the inning.
 
The Blue Devils later added three runs in the fourth inning and maintained that advantage the rest of the way. Herrera did retire seven of her final eight batters faced, striking out three batters and allowing four hits, three earned runs and three walks in four innings of relief. England
 
The Knights rebounded with a good start to the second game, with Meehan and Mercier hitting back-to-back singles and Miller-Godsey then supplying the runs with her first career home run to make it 3-0 in the second inning.
 
In the next frame, the Blue Devils put their first two runners on with an error and a hit by pitch, then produced a two-run double with two outs to make it 3-2. Ports, however, got the next batter to fly out to right to hold the lead for the Knights.
 
FDU loaded the bases in their next turn at the plate on a Schmeh single and two walks but were unable to push a run across. Ports similarly pitched out of a jam in the CCSU half of the third, inducing a flyout to left field with two outs and runners on first and second to keep the score at 3-2.
 
The Knights again loaded the bases with three walks in the fourth, and senior Reanna Cervantes drew the fourth walk of the inning to bring in a run and increase the Knights' lead to 4-2. Meehan then produced the big hit with a two-out, two-run double, making it 6-2.
 
Mercier followed with a two-RBI single to right, scoring Cervantes and Meehan to make it 8-2. After a Mendoza single to extend the inning, Miller-Godsey added to her day with another RBI hit to left, bringing home Mercier.
 
FDU later scored their 10th run of the game on a Miller-Godsey single through the left side that plated Mercier. Ports meanwhile blanked the Blue Devils in the final four innings she pitched.
 
Ports eclipsed 300 career innings pitched and earned her 15th win in her 18th complete game of her career. She became the eighth Knight with 300 innings and seventh Knight with at least 15 wins, also moving into sixth on FDU's all-time strikeout list with 187 career punchouts.
 
The Knights continue their road trip with a doubleheader at Rider on Wednesday, with the games scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.