CLERMONT, Fla. - The Saint Michael's College softball team opened the season with a pair of victories on Friday during The Spring Games at Legends Way, scoring seven runs over the final two innings for an 8-5 win against Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania before defeating Shepherd University, 3-1.
 
DOUBLEHEADER FACTS

• First-year Kate Parker (Quispamsis, New Brunswick/Kennebecasis Valley) earned the win in relief during the opener before notching the save in the nightcap. She is the first Purple Knight to secure a win and a save in the same day since Danielle Brown '18 on April 23, 2017, at Stonehill College.
• First-year Brooke Bishop's (Florida, Mass./Drury) tie-breaking, two-run, pinch-hit single in the bottom of the sixth inning of game two put the Purple Knights ahead for good. It was her first college hit.
• First-years Maddy Booska (Burlington, Vt./Colchester), Ella Nickerson (South Portland, Maine/South Portland) and Emma Nordahl (Holden, Mass./Saint Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior) added their first career hits on Friday.

GAME 1
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (1-0), Slippery Rock (4-11)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Booska, 1-for-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB
• Nickerson, 1-for-4, 1 R
• Parker, 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K in relief, win
• Senior Jenna Devens (Parsippany, N.J./Parsippany), 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
• Senior Kaylee Morey (Stonington, Maine/Deer Isle-Stonington), 2 RBI, 1 BB
• Junior CJ Davidson (Canyon Lake, Calif./Vista Murrieta), 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SB
• Junior Brooke Edgerly (Morley, Mich./Morley Stanwood), 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 SB

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Arielle Brown, 2 R, 2 BB
• Senior Alexsa Hurd, 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B
• Junior Aubrey Mansfield, 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 1 BB
• Sophomore Sarah Brown, 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
• First-year Kayla Williams, 0.1 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 K in relief, loss

THE ACTION

• The teams traded RBI grounders in the first inning before Slippery Rock scored four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second inning, with Sarah Brown's leadoff home run and Mansfield's two-out, two-run single the key hits.
• Booska's RBI single came amid a three-run sixth inning that brought Saint Michael's within a run, and the Purple Knights tied the game on her bases-loaded walk the following frame. Devens added a hard-hit infield RBI single, and Morey and Nordahl drew back-to-back based-loaded walks to cap a four-run frame.
• Parker set Slippery Rock down in order in the home half of the seventh.

GAME 2
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (2-0), Shepherd (4-6)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Bishop, 1-for-1, 2 RBI
• Booska, 1-for-3, 1 RBI
• Edgerly, 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 SB
• Nordahl, 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
• Parker, 5 IP in two stints, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, save
• First-year Maddy Eaton (Seabrook, N.H./Winnacunnet), 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R in relief

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Lauren Moore, 2-for-2, 1 BB
• Sophomore Madelayne Ruffner, 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B; 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K, no-decision
• Sophomore Cate Russian, 2 BB, 1 SB
• First-year Sam Colaw, 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K in relief, loss

THE ACTION

• Parker pitched around a pair of two-out singles in the third inning before leaving Russian at second base by fanning the final two hitters in the fourth.
• Edgerly legged out an infield single in the home half, stole second, and scored on Booska's single for the game's first run.
• Ruffner tripled with two down in the fifth and scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
• In the bottom of the sixth, Bishop pinch hit with the bases loaded to knock a two-run single, providing Saint Michael's a 3-1 lead.
• After two innings on the bench, Parker returned to the circle to lock down the save with a 1-2-3 seventh, highlighted by shortstop Nordahl's over-the-shoulder catch in shallow center field for the second out.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday against Wayne State (Mich.) University (9 a.m.) and 2024 NCAA Tournament qualifier Saint Martin's University (11:15 a.m.) in Clermont, Fla., during The Spring Games.