Softball Drops Two to Fitchburg

SALEM, Mass. – This afternoon, Salem State softball hosted the Falcons of Fitchburg State University for their first home MASCAC conference bout. A strong seven-run opening inning for the Falcons set them up to take the 10-8 victory in game one before securing their second win on the day with a commanding 11-3 tally to drop Salem State softball to 7-13 on the season.

Game 1

• Both teams started the game hot as the Falcons opened the game with six hits to accumulate seven runs while two Viking doubles (R. Walker, P. Jeffers) highlighted a three-run inning to enter the second trailing Fitchburg, 7-3.
• Facing an 8-3 deficit in the third inning the Vikings began to chip away when Mackenzie DeSantis (Ridge, N.Y.) notched a double to bring Payton Jeffers (Holly Ridge, N.C.) around before DeSantis, herself, would cross the plate later in the inning to make it a three-run game (8-5).
• The Falcons reestablished a five-run cushion in the top of the fourth, but Dawn Eisnor (Medford, Mass.) was able to answer in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run bomb over the left field fence to make it a 10-8 game to enter the fifth inning, but a quiet fifth and sixth inning would find the home team down 10-8 to enter the bottom of the fourth looking for some heroics.
• DeSantis started things off for the Vikings as she was able to notch a double to secure a runner on second for her squad. Then, Sydney Rodriguez (Brighton, Colo.) was able to move the runner to third in the next at bat but that would be as close as the Vikings would get to scoring as the Falcons would leave her on base to end the game and take the 10-8 victory.

Game 2

• The Vikings attempted to make some noise in the first inning when they found the bases loaded after three consecutive walks in a row, but the Falcons' defense buckled down and left all three runners on base entering the second inning.
• The Falcons strung together three hits in the top of the second to notch the first two runs of the game to take the early 2-0 tilt.
• The Vikings looked to get on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Janae Santos (Cambridge, Mass.) singled up the middle before finding her way to third due to strategic base running, but her effort would be hindered when she would wind up left on base to end the inning.
• Heading into the bottom of the fifth the Vikings found themselves in a 5-0 hole, but Eisnor gave the Vikings some life when her fielder's choice brought Rebecca Walker (Lynn, Mass.) around to notch Salem's first run of the game (5-1).
• An inning later, after holding Fitchburg hitless, Walker drove in two runs for the Vikings to bring it to a two-run (5-3) game heading into the final inning.
• Unfortunately, two runs would be as close as Salem would get because the Falcons exploded for eight hits l which would let them cruise to the 11-3 victory to solidify the MASCAC sweep on the afternoon.