BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team (0-4, 0-2 NEC) dropped its first two NEC games of the season, falling 10-2 in five innings in game one and 6-2 in game two to LIU (4-2, 4-2 NEC) on Saturday afternoon from the LIU Softball Complex. This marked FDU's first set of NEC games since May 4, 2019.

In game one, senior Rylie Schmeh recorded FDU's first extra base hit of the season and scored a run. Junior Courtney Mahoney registered a single in the fifth inning, scored a run, and at one point retired seven straight batters on the mound. Graduate student Madison Emerson recorded her first RBI of the year in the fifth inning. Fellow junior Riley De Laval and sophomore Savannah Thornell each recorded singles in the game.

In game two, Emerson launched the Knights first home run of the year in the sixth inning and drove in two RBI's. Mahoney and Schmeh also reached base twice after singling and walked in the contest. Junior Alayna Savaglio pitched four innings and allowed three earned runs. Senior Abby England entered the game in relief, pitched two innings, and allowed one run on one hit.

Coach Foye's Thoughts
"The scores weren't indicative of our play today," stated coach Foye following the LIU games. "Towards the end of the first game I thought we had a lot of quality at bats, worked longer counts and hit the ball hard LIU just made the plays."

"The second game Maddie had a big home run in the top of the 6th to cut the scoring gap to 3 runs and Rylie Schmeh had a big hit to keep the rally going but we were unable to get anything else across. Unfortunately our games are postponed tomorrow because of weather but it gives us a few days to work on a few things from this game before we return to LIU on Wednesday."

Game 1: LIU 10, FDU 2 (F/5)
How it Happened

• After the Knights were retired in order in the top of the first, freshman Riley Jones made her first career start on the mound after appearing in her first career game out of the bullpen against Stony Brook, but allowed two runs in the bottom of the first and avoided more by striking out Maya Avila with runners on first and second to end the inning with LIU leading 2-0.
• LIU's Camryn Lyman extended the lead to five runs with a two RBI triple in the bottom of the second, but Mahoney came in relief and got the final two outs of the inning before Mahoney went back to the mound to in the bottom of the third and retired the side with a pair of fly outs and a ground out to extend her out streak to five straight batters.
• Junior Riley De Laval recorded FDU's first hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning with a single up the middle and sophomore Savannah Thornell then followed that up with a single to center to give the Knights a pair of base runners, but both were left on base as sophomores Hailey Ramberg and Cassidy Triska were retired to end the inning.
• Mahoney continued to set down the Sharks in the bottom of the fourth by setting down the first two batters, but Lyman reached base and Ciara Granado hit a two-run homer to push the lead to seven runs.
• Graduate student Erica Johnson came in to relieve Mahoney after the Granado homer and allowed two more runs before getting Angelina Reno to strike out swinging.
• Schmeh tallied FDU's first extra base hit of the year with a double to right center and was advanced to third by a single to left field from Mahoney.
• The Knights then scored a run after graduate student Summer Mendoza hit a ball in the infield and reached base with Schmeh scoring to cut the deficit to 9-1.
• After a ground out from freshman Megan Berg that advanced Mahoney to third and Mendoza to third, Emerson grounded out to short, which was good enough to bring in Mahoney for the second run of the inning and FDU forced the game to go to the bottom of the fifth, but LIU scored on a wild pitch to end the game.

Game 2: LIU 6, FDU 2
How it Happened

• Schmeh drew a four pitch walk to get on base in the top of the first, but Thornell grounded into a double play to end the top half and Savaglio then came to the mound as she made her second start of the season.
• LIU scored two runs in the bottom of the first sparked by an RBI single from Alina Castillo, but were stopped from extending the lead by Savaglio as she retired the final two Sharks of the inning with a fielder's choice and a pop out to second.
• After the first two Knights were retired in the top of the second, Mahoney poked a single to right field, but was left on first after sophomore Malori Bell grounded out to third.
• The Sharks added two more runs to their lead in the bottom of the second and in the bottom of the third, Savaglio got the final two batters to strike and ground out, which left a Shark on second base.
• After LIU scored another run in the bottom of the fourth, Mahoney again reached base in the fifth inning after drawing a five-pitch walk, but again was left on first base.
• England entered the game to pitch in the bottom of the fifth and retired the Sharks in order with two ground outs and a fly out.
• FDU cut the deficit to 5-2 in the top of the sixth after senior Logan Kolehmainen drew a five-pitch walk and Emerson launched the Knights first home run of the season to left field and the third of her career.
• Schmeh then reached first after singling down the line in the at-bat after Emerson's homer, but was left on first after Thornell popped up and sophomore Hailey Ramberg struck out.
• After England walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth, she retired the next two batters before the Sharks added another run in the frame to extend the lead to 6-2 entering the seventh.
• In the top of the seventh, Triska popped out, Mahoney struck out, and Bell grounded out to end the contest.

What's Next
FDU will conclude its four-game series with two more games against the Sharks that are set to be played on Wednesday, March 31.