GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College softball team opened its Northeast-10 Conference slate with a doubleheader split at nationally-ranked Adelphi University on Friday.

Saint Anselm took game one by a 3-2 score in 10 innings before Adelphi grabbed a 9-6 win in the second game.

The Hawks move to 11-7 on the season and 1-1 in NE10 play while the Panthers, who are ranked No. 16 in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II National Poll, go to 13-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Saint Anselm is back in action on Sunday, Mar. 26 with an NE10 twinbill at Pace University.

Senior Kate Irwin (Milford, Mass.) and sophomore Alyssa Wironen (Leominster, Mass.) led the Hawks offense with four hits apiece on the day. Junior Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and sophomores Audrey Arsenault (Stow, Mass.) and Stephanie Tardugno (Methuen, Mass.) posted two hits each.

Wironen was credited with four runs batted in in game two, which is a career-high. Arsenault, Irwin, and O'Hara collected one RBI each on the day.

Junior Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.) earned the game-one win after allowing just two runs on four hits in the 10-inning complete game effort. Hicks fanned a season-high 12 batters in the contest.

Sophomore Sophia DiPippo (Cranston, R.I.) made her ninth start of the season in game two but it was classmate Sam Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.) who was the pitcher of record, suffering her first loss in a Hawks uniform.

GAME ONE: Saint Anselm 3, Adelphi 2 – 10 innings

With the game tied at one entering the 10th inning, Arsenault would be placed on second to start the frame. After reaching third on a sacrifice bunt, the sophomore would score on a single by Irwin, giving the Hawks a 2-1 lead. Irwin would come around to score on a throwing error to give Saint Anselm a 3-1 lead.

Sabrina Morales wasted little time getting the scoring back in Adelphi's favor in the bottom of the 10th as she doubled to score Courtney Murphy who was placed on second. However, the Hawks would get an out on a sacrifice and close the contest with a double play, collecting a 3-2 win in extra innings.

Earlier in game one, it was Adelphi who pushed across the first run on a single by Courtney Wengryn. After a sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third with one out, Hicks would get a strikeout and a fly out to limit the damage to just one run.

Saint Anselm tied the score at one in the top of the fourth as O'Hara hit her team-leading third home run of 2023.

The tightly contested pitcher's duel between Hicks and Lindsey Hibbs saw 11 hits between the two sides with the pitchers combining for 25 strikeouts.

GAME TWO: Adelphi 9, Saint Anselm 6

Adelphi wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in game two as the Panthers posted five runs on seven hits and left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. Zee Zee Shreter would score Jordyn Pasqueralli, who led off the inning with single, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead. Shreter would come across to score on a passed ball before back-to-back hits plated one run each. The Panthers pushed across their fifth run of the inning on a single by Angelina Kellogg.

The Hawks would get three runs back in the top of the fourth inning. An Adelphi error, a hit by pitch, and a single loaded the bases for Wironen who cleared them with a double, pushing the score to 5-3.

Adelphi scored a sixth run in the bottom of the fifth on a single from Kellogg, scoring Alexa Sacripante who led off with a double.

Saint Anselm once again put up three runs in an inning in the top of the sixth. Senior Meghan Gibbons (Litchfield, N.H.) led off the frame with a single. Classmate Jess Persechino (Torrington, Conn.) came on to pinch run for Gibbons and would score from second on an Arsenault single. Wironen added another single which scored Arsenault before the three-run inning was capped on a throwing error, allowing sophomore Lauren Lejano (Cerritos, Calif.) to score to push the score to 6-6.

However, the Panthers answered with three of their own in the bottom of the inning. One run, which proved to be the eventual game-winning run came across on an error with Sacripante plating two insurance runs with a double to left center.

Saint Anselm would go three up, three down to close game two with Adelphi taking it by a 9-6 score.