MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Southern New Hampshire softball team split with Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference doubleheader action Saturday afternoon. The Penmen are now 16-9 overall, while the Skyhawks are now 19-18.

In the first game of the day, the Penmen defeated the Skyhawks by a score of 3-1.

After a scoreless first inning, Cara Daly (Plainville, Mass.) drove in the first Penmen runs with a two-run shot to right center to take a 2-0 lead on Stonehill.

SNHU built on the lead again in the third inning when freshman Lindsey Bolduc (Londonderry, N.H.) made it around the bases after reaching on a walk. She advanced to second after a Skyhawks wild pitch, and Kelsea Cheney (Abington, Mass.) singled to right field to score Bolduc from second base.

Stonehill scored its lone run in the fifth inning on a solo leadoff homerun from Kelsey Wilcox.

Ali Maloof (Norwood, Mass.) recorded her eighth win in the circle while striking out five batters in a complete game. Megan Ruonavaara was credited with the loss for Stonehill while giving up five hits, three runs, and striking out four batters.

In the second game of the day, Southern New Hampshire could not bounce back after an early Skyhawk lead and lost to Stonehill by a score of 9-7.

The teams traded two runs apiece in the first inning. A Nicole Eisenmann homerun to center field scored two runs for Stonehill in the top of the first, and Kate Stanley (Kingston, Mass.) cranked out her sixth homer of the season to tie the game up at 2-2.

The Skyhawks scored three more runs in the second inning on a pair of singles and a Penmen error to take a 5-2 lead, and another run in the top of the fourth pushed the deficit to four runs.

However, the Penmen rallied in the bottom of the fourth with three runs when Daly led off with her second homerun of the day, followed by a Cristy Jenkins (Hudson, N.H.) homer to center field. Stonehill walked in the third Penmen run of the inning to cut the lead to 6-5.

Stonehill regained the lead in the top of the fifth on four hits and three runs. Eisenmann got things going when she singled up the middle to score Alison Sumski, who reached on a fielder's choice. Two more Stonehill singles scored two runs, and the lead was brought back up to four runs.

SNHU did not have an answer for the Skyhawks in the bottom of the fifth, but after retiring the Stonehill side in the sixth inning, the Penmen registered two more runs. Maloof led off the inning with a triple to center field, and scored on a fielder's choice, followed by Stanley's second homerun of the game to center field to cut the lead to two runs heading into the final inning.

In the final inning, the Penmen had their best opportunity to score when Mo Hannan (Scarborough, Maine) reached first base on a walk, and Maloof singled to right field to advance Natalie Metta (Norwood, Mass.), who pinch ran for Hannan, to third base. But the Penmen ran out of outs and retired the inning with Metta left on base.

Dolores Mattice (Schenectady, N.Y.) got the loss in the circle for SNHU while pitching four innings and striking out five, and Lauren Esposito earned the win for Stonehill pitching three innings.

The Penmen return to action tomorrow when they host Stonehill for another doubleheader on Penmen Field at 12:00 and 2:00 p.m.