HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team outhit Saint John's five to four, but ultimately were edged 3-2 by the Red Storm on Wednesday afternoon at the FDU Softball Field in the Knights home opener.

The Knights (4-13) entered the bottom of the seventh inning down 3-2 after junior Abby England was able to strike out a pair of Saint John's (8-15) batters and force a fly out in the top of the seventh. Freshman Savannah Thornell stepped up to the plate to face Angela Saric and was set down after popping a ball up to second on the third pitch of the AB.

Freshman Hailey Ramberg batted next for the Knights after pinch-hitting for England and scorched a ball to the shortstop, who held on for the second out of the inning. Junior Rylie Schmeh, took the count to 1-1 before popping up to short to end the contest.

For the game, the Knights recorded five hits and drew five walks. Saint John's registered four hits and earned eight walks. Each team left 10 runners on base. The Burgundy and Blue pitching staff combined to strike out eight batters.

FDU scored both runs in the fifth inning and got the bases loaded with two outs in the frame. Freshman Cassidy Triska opened the inning with a walk and later advanced to second when sophomore Riley De Laval grounded out to third. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Triska sprinted home and beat the catcher's tag on a ball that was hit by senior Summer Mendoza to first base that brought FDU within two runs.

Senior Madison Emerson then struck a ball to right center and earned her a double to bring home Mendoza to make it a 3-2 game. Thornell and Schmeh then reached base by walk and hit by pitch respectively to load the bases with two outs. Sophomore Courtney Mahoney stepped into the batter's box and on the third pitch of the at bat popped out to third.

Saint John's responded in the top of the sixth inning by loading the bases as Meisha Murray, Jessi Bryant, and Gretchen Bowie all reached base. England came in to pitch for the Knights after Murray reached to start the inning and was able to strike out Peyton Cody looking with a changeup as the score remained 3-2.

After Saric recorded a pair of outs to start the bottom of the sixth, De Laval stepped up to the plate and earned a six pitch walk to get to first base. Mendoza slapped a ball through the right side of the infield to move De Laval over to third as the Knights now had runners on the corners. Emerson then hit a ball up the middle that was fielded by the Saric, who threw her out at first to end the inning.

Saint John's got the scoring going early with a run in the first inning that came off a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Elyse Morris to give the Red Storm a 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, the Red Storm scored their other two runs in the top of the third inning off a double from Laura Delgado that plated Bowie and a wild pitch that brought in Kaitlin Mattera to push the gap to 3-0.

FDU freshman Malori Bell provided a spark on the mound for the Knights as she pitched 2.1 innings, allowed one hit, and struck out two batters. Sophomore Alayna Savaglio started the game on the mound and allowed three runs in 2.2 innings. England closed out the game with the final 2.0 innings and conceived only one hit while punching out four batters.

De Laval reached base three times for the Knights as she drew a pair of walks, singled, and stole a base. Mendoza and Emerson each recorded RBI's. Bell and Mahoney recorded the other two hits for FDU.

Kayla Kmett earned the win for the Red Storm after pitching 5.0 inning and only allowing one earned run. Bowie and Delgado paced Saint John's by each recording an RBI.

The Burgundy and Blue will play again of Saturday, March 14 for a double-header against Morgan State with games beginning at 1 and 3 p.m in Baltimore, Md. The Knights will also compete on Sunday, March 15 in contests against Harvard and UMBC at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. respectively.