Red Flash hit 12 homers in doubleheader, defeat Bulldogs, 10-1 and 14-4, Saturday afternoon in Loretto

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Facing top-seeded Saint Francis U., the Bryant University softball team dropped back-to-back games, falling, 10-1, and 14-4, to the Red Flash on the road on Saturday afternoon.

Game One

After the Bulldogs' (6-31, 5-5 NEC) starting pitcher senior Elle Madsen (Wheat Ridge, Colo.) struck out the Red Flash's (27-18, 7-1) leadoff batter swinging, Hayley Norton homered to left field, giving Saint Francis U. a 1-0 lead in the first. The Red Flash extended their lead after Alexis Bower drilled a two-run homer to left center to make it 3-0. Madison Cabell followed suit, sending one over the fence in right field for the Red Flashes' 4-0 advantage.

The four-score edge prompted a Bryant pitching change, as redshirt freshman Brandi Burgin (Santa Clarita, Calif.) checked in on the mound. Following the pitching change, Kassidy Troxell cranked one out of the park in left field, pushing the home team's margin to five. The Bulldogs were finally able to close out the inning off back-to-back outs, allowing five runs off four hits in the bottom of the first.

Despite leaving a runner on third, the Bulldogs came up empty in the top of the second and the Red Flash capitalized in the bottom on the inning, adding four more runs off a pair of two-run homers to centerfield, as Saint Francis U. took a 9-0 lead.

Jordan Seneca hit the seventh and final homer of the game to left field in the bottom of the third, as the Red Flash took a commanding 10-0 advantage.

In the top of the fourth, the Bulldogs escaped a scoreless outing, as freshman Jessica Gradillas's (Nogales, Ariz.) ground out to short freed up senior Hayley Bottino (Canyon Country, Calif.) to score from third to make it 10-1, which held through the final inning.

Madsen moved to 5-10 on the mound, letting up four runs off three hits, while Burgin allowed six runs off five hits in 3.2 innings. Ketarah DeVries recorded the Red Flash's win in the circle, allowing no runs off two hits in 3.0 innings pitched.

Game Two

The Red Flash went on a terror in the bottom of the first scoring 11 runs to take the healthy, 11-0, lead after one inning of play. The home team was able to put together 11 runs off eight hits, including five homers with a Kindra Witthus three-run homer occurring with two outs in the inning.

Freshman Jill Staley's (Lake Katrine, N.Y.) first-career homer cut the margin to single digits, as the out of the park hit plated both her and Gradillas.

The Black and Gold added two more in the top of the of the third, as Gradillas matched her classmate, finding her first-career homer to centerfield, driving Bottino home to pull the Bulldogs within seven, 11-4.

The Red Flash silenced the Bulldogs after the third, as they went on to add three more runs in the bottom of the third and fourth to finalize game two, 14-4, in Saint Francis U.'s favor.

Bottino dropped to 0-6 in the pitching circle on the season, letting up seven runs off five hits, while freshman Colby Norris (Toano, Va.) allowed seven runs off five hits in 3.1 innings. Saint Francis U.'s Ethel Santai earned the win on the mound, allowing the Bulldogs nothing in 2.1 innings, while striking out three batters.