GAME 1 BOX SCORE     GAME 2 BOX SCORE

RINDGE, N.H. - Visiting Southern New Hampshire University swept a Northeast-10 softball doubleheader from Franklin Pierce University, winning the first game 8-6 in eight innings before posting an 8-3 win in the nightcap.  The Penmen improve to 12-18 overall and 10-6 in the NE-10, while the Ravens are now 4-20 and 0-10 in the league.

In the opener, Franklin Pierce jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings, but the Penmen would get on the board in the fourth, then tied the game with four runs in the fifth.  In the fifth SNHU collected five hits and also took advantage of a pair of Raven errors.  Elena Anderson (Salem, WI) tied the game when she scored on a throwing error after Melissa Pessotti (Burlington, MA) singled.

FPU would reclaim the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Penmen would tie the game once again in the sixth.  Amanda Barton (Franklin, NH) worked a leadoff walk then eventually scored on a double to right-center by Michelle Maranto (Hampstead, NH). 

SNHU would then push across two runs in the top of the eighth for the win.  Melissa Vitagliano (Bedford, NH) led off with a ground rule double.  She would be lifted for pinch runner Andrea Ouellette (Londonderry, NH), who would score on a single by Nicole Arpin (Cheshire, CT).   Arpin scored the second run on another Maranto double.  Franklin Pierce did load the bases with two away in the bottom of the eighth, but SNHU pitcher Ashley Bernstein  (Stoughton, MA) got Kiley Molinari to ground back to the mound to get out of the jam.

Arpin had three of SNHU's 12 hits in the opener, while Maranto and Vitagliano each had a pair of hits.  Bernstein scattered 11 hits and allowed three earned runs en route to her fifth victory of the season.

In the nightcap, SNHU would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Arpin and Maranto led off the game by reaching on a double and a single, respectively.  Arpin would score the game's first run on a successful double steal, then Maranto would make it 2-0 when she scored on a single by Valerie Martins (Somerset, MA).    Franklin Pierce tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the first, but Maranto would drive in another run in the top of the second when her double plated Arpin, who reached on a two-out error.

Southern New Hampshire would blow the game open with four runs in the third.  Martins brought home the first run when her sacrifice fly to right plated Bernstein.  Vitagliano would then deliver a big hit with a three-run home run to left-center to make it 7-2.  SNHU's other run came in the fifth when Anderson led off with a single and eventually scored when Kelsey Griffin (Scarborough, ME) reached on a fielder's choice.

Anderson was 4-4 with two runs scored in the nightcap while Vitagliano was 3-4 and Maranto finished with a pair of hits as the Penmen pounded out 15 hits in game two.  Griffin earned her fourth win of the year on the mound, scattering nine hits while fanning 12 with just one walk in a complete-game effort.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Tuesday afternoon when it hosts UMass Lowell in a 3:00 doubleheader at Penmen Field.