HACKENSACK, N.J. - Hitting the diamond at the FDU Softball Field for the first time since March 2, the Fairleigh Dickinson softball team (13-12, 5-1 NEC) toppled Saint Peter's in a midweek doubleheader head home which led to the Knights cross the .500 winning percentage plateau with the side currently sitting with a win percentage of .520 following the nightcap.

FDU struck first in the bottom of the first inning of game one with an RBI single off the bat of freshman Jess DeWitt to score Cassidy Triska. The early-inning play wouldn't be the last of the duo's heroics in the non-conference doubleheader. Saint Peter's would string together three runs in the top half of the third frame to give the Peacocks a 3-1 lead though it would be Triska and DeWitt who would hit home runs to tie the game at one. In a three-run fifth inning for FDU, the junior from Murrieta, Calif. would get the ball rolling with yet another round-tripper providing her second RBI of the afternoon in the early going. 

NEC Prime Performer Andreya Flores earned the start in the designated player (DP) slot and produced an RBI single to score fellow freshman and prime performer Sabrina Javorsky to bump the Knights' lead to two runs. Junior Savannah Thornell would bat-in the final run of the game for the Burgundy and Blue in the fifth off a single down the third base line to score DeWitt, a 6-3 victory for the Knights.

Senior southpaw Alayna Savaglio picked up her fifth victory of the season with the decision recording five strikeouts without allowing a walk in 6.0 innings of action while rookie Julia Swan came in for the Peacocks' last licks in the top of the seventh and retired three of her four batters face to pick up the first save earned by a Knights' pitcher this season to seal the deal on the victory which extended the current FDU win streak to six. 

In the nightcap, head coach Chris Foye made some changes to his club's lineup going for the sweep and and did so in grand fashion. Allowing an unearned run in the top of the first to fall behind 1-0, the three-time NEC Rookie of the Week and one-time Player of the Week DeWitt hit yet another home run, this time to center field to score Triska in a two-run blast to propel the Knights in front of Saint Peter's, 2-1. The scoring affair would be on-hold until the third inning when Flores' bat heated up and helped start a five-run rally for FDU beginning with her two-run double to left, scoring DeWitt and sophomore Megan Berg who got the start in right field. Serving as the Knights' DP in the second game after seeing an at-pat as a pinch hitter in the day's opener, junior Hailey Ramberg hit 3-for-4 including an RBI single to first to score rookie LoriAnne O'Connor.

Ramberg's hit was followed by runs produced by freshman Angela Costa, an RBI single to score newcomer Sabrina Javorsky and a double hit to deep right by Triska to score Costa. FDU would lead 7-1 after the third inning. Allowing a home run in the top of the fourth, FDU would answer in the following inning with home runs off the bats of Ramberg and Costa to make it a 9-1 ballgame. With a chance to end the game with three outs in the top of the sixth by way of mercy rule, an error allowed the Peacocks to get within a seven-run margin as the score would sit 9-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth. Flores would book an RBI double in her next at-bat to score freshman Sydney Newton and put FDU up 10-3. Ramberg would end the game with an RBI single to score rookie Hayden Salter and give FDU an 11-3 victory over Saint Peter's in six innings.

Keansburg, N.J. native Malori Bell made the start and allowed just one earned run while striking out six and walking none in 4.0 innings. She was relieved by transfer Mia Faieta for an inning, followed by Payton Wagner who went three up, three down in each of her two innings pitched.

"I am so proud of this team and how they have been playing. We are on a roll now, lucky seven in a row," commented Foye postgame. "It's great to see them get rewarded for all the hard work they are putting in. We will look to carry this momentum over to a big weekend conference series with Sacred Heart."

FDU's homestand continues with a three-game set against Sacred Heart live on NEC Front Row scheduled to begin on Saturday, April 2, with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The series finale comes on Sunday, April 3, at 12 p.m. All three games will be played at FDU Softball Field.