Manchester, N.H. (April 18) -- After taking game one by a 5-4 final, the Saint Anselm softball team split with visiting Adelphi on Sunday as the Panthers won game two by a 5-3 score. The game was relocated across Manchester to Southern New Hampshire University after inclement weather made the Saint Anselm field unplayable.

In game one, Adelphi took a quick 1-0 lead as the Panthers got a leadoff double to left center by Rochelle Noren, who eventually scored on a sacrifice bunt by Shay Craig. Saint Anselm tied things up in the bottom of the inning as Moira McCabe (Brookline, N.H.) took the second pitch of the inning and put it over the left field wall to tie the game at 1-1.

Saint Anselm extended the lead to 5-1 in the third, led by a three-run homer to center from freshman Kylene Pease (Ashland, Mass.). McCabe led off the inning with a single up the middle, eventually scoring on an RBI single from Jackie Giannino (Beverly, Mass.). After a walk of Liz Trafton (Berwick, Maine), Pease launched her second homer of the year to give the Hawks some insurance.

Adelphi closed to within one run in the fourth, led by a two-RBI double to left by Noren, but could get no closer in the 5-4 final.

Saint Anselm senior pitcher Megan Lemire (Worcester, Mass.) went the distance for Saint Anselm, improving to 6-6 overall with the win. Lemire went seven innings, scattingering nine hits while allowing four runs and striking out four. Christine Robinson got the start for the Panthers, going just 2.2 innings and allowing five earned runs to fall to 9-7 overall. McCabe led the Hawks with a 3-for-4 showing in game one, scoring a pair of runs. Noren led the Panthers with two runs and two RBI, along with a 3-for-4 showing from Katie Brophy.

In game two, Kayla McEachern (Stoneham, Mass.) reached on an error by the third baseman in the first and came home after Trafton dropped a double just inside the left field line for the 1-0 lead. Adelphi took a 2-1 lead in the third on a pair of unearned runs, but Saint Anselm answered right back in the bottom of the inning. After freshman Lauren Galavotti (Marion, Mass.) led off with a single, she scored on a one-out single to left center by Giannino to tie the game at two.

Adelphi regained the lead at 5-2 in the fourth before Saint Anselm cut the margin to 5-3 in the fifth with a single run. McEachern had reached on a leadoff double to left center before coming home on an RBI single by Pease for the final Hawk run of the afternoon. The Hawks threatened in the sixth as they got two runners on before the Panthers hung on for the win.

Amanda Dolan had two RBI for the Panthers, while eight different players had hits for Saint Anselm in the loss. Leighann Bell, who came in in relief in game one, improved to 8-7 with a seven-inning, eight-hit performance. Senior Lisa Caruso (Granby, Conn.) went three innings, giving up four runs, two earned, on three hits with five walks to fall to 3-2 overall.

With the split, the Hawks are now 14-16 overall and 7-9 in the Northeast-10, while the Panthers are now 20-16 overall and 8-8 in the league. Saint Anselm is back in action at home on Wednesday, April 21st at 3:30 p.m. at the Hawks host Saint Michael's.