WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The Saint Michael's College softball team hit seven more home runs while taking one game and losing a pair of one-run decisions on the final day of its Spring Training trip on Thursday. The Purple Knights lost to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, 8-7, and Purdue (Ind.) University Northwest, 7-6, before downing regional counterpart Post University, 7-2, during The Spring Games at the DiamondPlex Softball Complex.

The Purple and Gold has already seen a school-record seven student-athletes hit a home run, with the 2016 squad having most recently featured six home run hitters. With 17 homers through just 11 games, the Purple Knights are within six of the 2007 school record, and their per-game average of 1.55 is good for second in NCAA Division II. Saint Michael's returns north with 60 RBI after totaling 62 in 25 games last spring.

GAME 1
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (2-7), Slippery Rock (5-8)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Leigh Brandenburg (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), 0-for-0, 2 R, 2 BB
• Junior Hannah Arruda (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth), 2-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 2B, 1 HP
• Junior Haley Waghorn (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs), 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
• Sophomore Meghan Connor (Saint Albans, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans/Endicott), 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 1 HP
• First-year Jenna Devens (Parsippany, N.J./Parsippany), 3-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR
• Junior Jackie Cherry (Franklin, Mass./Franklin), 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, loss
• First-year Kelleigh Simpson (West Burke, Vt./Lyndon Institute), 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K in relief

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Sophomore Mackenzie Freeman, 3-for-4, 1 R, 6 RBI, 1 HR, 1 HP
• First-year Julia Montie, 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
• Sophomore Kelsi Anderson, 5.2 IP over 2 stints, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 8 K, win

GAME FACTS

• The teams had their third all-time Florida meeting, and first since March 11, 2018.
• Slippery Rock had an 11-10 lead in hits while also leaving 11 runners on base to the Purple Knights' 10.

THE ACTION

• Freeman's two-run single in the top of the first inning plated the game's opening runs, and her two-out grand slam pushed the lead to 6-0 in the fourth.
• Waghorn drilled a solo homer leading off the bottom half before Arruda doubled home sophomore Marli Welter (Madison, N.J./Madison), who had doubled.
• Montie homered with two down in the fifth, but Devens knocked a two-run longball in the bottom half to make it 7-4.
• An unearned Rock run came around in the sixth, but sophomore Angelica Johns (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) hit an RBI single with two down in the home half.
• In the seventh, Connor swatted a two-run home run to bring Saint Michael's within 8-7 with one out, and junior Sadie Pratt (Dighton, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth Regional) followed with a walk to put the tying run on base. Pratt moved to second on a groundout before the final batter popped out.

GAME 2
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (2-8), Purdue Northwest (7-4)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Arruda, 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 1 BB
• Connor, 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
• Devens, 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB; 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 BB, 3 K
• Johns, 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
• Pratt, 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 SAC
• Simpson, 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K in relief, loss

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Amanda Noblett, 3-for-4, 1 R
• Junior Selena Michko, 2-for-3, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR, 1 HP; 1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K in relief, win
• Sophomore Allison Arnold, 3-for-5, 1 RBI

GAME FACTS

• The teams met for the first time since Purdue North Central and Purdue Calumet merged for the 2016-17 school year. Saint Michael's defeated Purdue North Central, 5-0, during their only meeting, on March 15, 2004, when Meggan (Roberge) Dulude '07 tossed a no-hitter.

THE ACTION

• Michko's grand slam handed the Pride a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
• Johns scored an unearned run in the second before Arruda's two-run homer to left made it a one-run game in the fourth.
• Both teams staged rallies in a wild seventh inning. Devens' opposite-field RBI single tied the game before Johns and Connor came through with back-to-back RBI knocks, giving the Purple Knights a 6-4 lead. Saint Michael's still had the bases loaded with no one out but did no further damage.
• After Purdue Northwest put 12 runners on base while being held scoreless from the second through sixth innings, the Pride broke through in the bottom of the seventh. Michko led off with a wind-aided double before a key infield error with one out plated a run. Stuckey's RBI knock tied the game, and Arnold's bases-loaded walk-off single clinched the Purdue Northwest win.

GAME 3
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (3-8), Post (2-4)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Arruda, 2-for-4, 2 RBI
• Cherry, 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, win
• Connor, 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HR
• Devens, 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
• Johns, 1-for-4, 2 R
• Simpson, 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K in relief
• Waghorn, 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Bailee Zaccaro, 2-for-4, 1 RBI
• Sophomore Maddison Caldwell, 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, loss
• Sophomore Caitlin DeAngelis, 2-for-4
• First-year Bailey Dickenson, 2-for-3, 1 BB

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's improved to 4-4 in the all-time series, with the teams meeting for the first time since March 12, 2018, but the Purple Knights downed the Eagles for the first time since March 16, 2007.
• Cherry was credited with her first college hit.

THE ACTION

• Devens' solo dinger to center field in the top of the first inning started the scoring before Zaccaro countered with an RBI groundout in the home half.
• An infield error plated an Eagle in the second frame before Saint Michael's scored the final six runs.
• Waghorn slugged a solo home run into left in the third inning before Arruda's two-out single scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth.
• Brandenburg helped the Purple Knights manufacture a sixth-inning run, as she led off with a pinch-hit walk, stole second and scored after Pratt's sac bunt was thrown just far enough away for the speedster to score from third base.
• Connor swatted a two-run homer for good measure in the seventh.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• March 26 at Franklin Pierce University, 12 p.m. doubleheader.
• The Purple Knights begin their Northern and Northeast-10 Conference slates that day.