NEWPORT, R.I. (Sunday, April 6, 2025) -- Salve Regina University softball won the opener, 6-1, over Smith College in NEWMAC action on Sunday afternoon on Toppa Field before the Pioneers took a back-and-forth affair in Game Two for a 7-6 final to earn the split.

Alex Kelly (W, 4-2) went the distance in Game One allowing one earned run on two hits while striking out seven. Kylie Lanteri had an RBI single in the first inning and Sam Franceschi added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. The Pioneers cut the deficit in half with a run on their first hit off Kelly in the fifth before the Seahawks put up four runs in the sixth. Franceschi had a two-run double to left field while Lanteri and Emily Cronin drove in the final two runs.

Emily Doty (W, 3-7), the starter and loser in Game One, came on in relief of Game Two starter Lindsay Bennett and earned the win in the nightcap when the Pioneers rallied from a 6-4 deficit with three runs in their final three at bats. Infielder Kat Wajerski finished 3-for-8 with three RBI on the day. Lucy Allen doubled in runs in the fifth and seventh innings, the latter proving to be the game winner.

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS
Finals: [1] Salve Regina 6, Smith 1; [2] Smith 7, Salve Regina 6
Records: Salve Regina (8-14, 3-3 NEWMAC), Smith (5-13, 1-3 NEWMAC)
History: Today marks the sixth and seventh all-time meetings between Salve Regina and Smith on the softball diamond. The first three meetings were on neutral ground, twice in Florida and another in Waltham, Massachusetts, during the 2014 ECAC Regional Championships hosted by Brandeis University. Last year in Northampton, the Pioneers swept the first NEWMAC doubleheader with the Seahawks, 10-2 (five innings) and 7-3. Emily Cronin belted a three-run homer to left field in the fourth inning of Game Two before the hosts tacked on two more insurance runs. Salve Regina's lone win in series, 15-6, eight years ago in Leesburg.

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HIGHLIGHTS ON X

Sam Franceschi had the bat (two doubles, single) and the glove (double play here) going for the Seahawks in NEWMAC twinbill versus Pioneers at Toppa Field on @flosports. Franceschi has a seven-game hit streak. pic.twitter.com/lVDKbgJ7dH

— Salve Regina Sports (@SalveAthletics) April 7, 2025

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SUMARY GAME ONE

• B1 - Kylie Lanteri singled to first base, RBI; Emily Lane scored. | SEAHAWKS 1, PIONEERS 0
• B4 - Sam Franceschi flied out to cf, sacrifice fly, RBI; Skylar Wicklund advanced to second; Jacey Cosciello advanced to third; Morganti Bello scored. | SEAHAWKS 2, PIONEERS 0
• T5 - K. Wajerski doubled to left center, RBI; A. Knutson scored. | SEAHAWKS 2, PIONEERS 1
• B6 - Sam Franceschi doubled to left field, RBI; Jacey Cosciello scored; Morganti Bello scored. Kylie Lanteri singled, RBI, advanced to second; Emily Lane advanced to third; S. Franceschi scored. Emily Cronin grounded out to ss, RBI; K. Lanteri advanced to third; E. Lane scored. | SEAHAWKS 6, PIONEERS 1

NOTEWORTHY

• Morganti Bello and Jacey Cosciello went 3-for-3 at the plate. Bello belted two doubles.
• Kylie Lanteri also had a multi-hit game.
• Lanteri and Sam Franceschi had two RBIs apiece.
• Olivia Saccoccio and Emily Lane both drew a pair of bases on balls.
• Alex Kelly (W, 4-2) pitched her fourth complete game of the season and earned her fourth victory.

SUMMARY GAME TWO

• T1 - K. Wajerski doubled to right center, RBI; A. Knutson scored. | PIONEERS 1, SEAHAWKS 0
• B1 - Emily Lane singled to center field, RBI, advanced to second; Sam Franceschi scored. | SEAHAWKS 1, PIONEERS 1
• T3 - K. Wajerski singled to center field, RBI; A. Knutson scored. E. Washington singled to right center, RBI; B. Gray advanced to third; K. Wajerski scored. | PIONEERS 3, SEAHAWKS 1
• T4 - A. Knutson singled to center field, RBI, advanced to second; A. Lansbury scored. | PIONEERS 4, SEAHAWKS 1
• B4 - Olivia Saccoccio singled to left field, RBI; Morganti Bello advanced to second; Emily Cronin scored. Madeleine Oswald tripled to right center, 2 RBI; O. Saccoccio scored; M. Bello scored. M. Oswald scored on a wild pitch. Emily Lane singled through the left side, RBI, advanced to second; Jacey Cosciello scored. | SEAHAWKS 6, PIONEERS 4
• T5 - L. Allen doubled to left center, RBI; E. Washington scored, unearned. | SEAHAWKS 6, PIONEERS 5
• T6 - A. Knutson doubled to left center, RBI; E. Doty scored. | SEAHAWKS 6, PIONEERS 6
• T7 - L. Allen singled to right field, RBI; B. Gray scored. | PIONEERS 7, SEAHAWKS 6

NOTEWORTHY

• Emily Lane went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in.
• Madeleine Oswald tied the score with a two-run triple in the fourth.
• Oswald scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.
• Sam Franceschi and Emily Cronin each had a double for the Seahawks.
• Six different Seahawks scored a run in the loss.

NEXT UP
Salve Regina hosts Emerson College on Friday, April 11, in a NEWMAC doubleheader at Toppa Field with a first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. on FloCollege.