Buffalo, NY – The D'Youville softball team split their conference opening doubleheader with the Hilbert Hawks on Wednesday afternoon, winning game one 4-2 and falling in game two 7-4.

Game number one of the doubleheader was led off with the Spartans taking the lead in the bottom of the first. Ashley Carney (Clarence, NY/Clarence) began the inning with a walk and a stolen base, followed by a sac-bunt from Rylie Russo (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) to move Carney to third. Hannah Turek (Depew, NY/Lancaster) then added another RBI to her team leading total with a single to left field, driving in Carney and giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

D'Youville would strike again in the bottom of the fifth, more than doubling their lead. A single from Therese Losardo (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) began the bottom of the inning, with a Russo walk to follow. In the next at-bat, Turek reached on a fielder's choice, but Darian Evans (Brant, NY/Lake Shore) would bring her and Russo home with a single, making the game 3-0. The Spartans would then add a run in the next at-bat as Lauren Gawlak (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) doubled, scoring Evans and making the game 4-0 after five.

Scoring two runs in the top of the sixth, the Hawks would trail 4-2 in the top of the seventh, but were unable to gain any more runs as D'Youville would defeat Hilbert in game one of the doubleheader 4-2.

Evans led the team with two hits and two RBI in the game. Each of the top four hitters in the Spartan's lineup scored a run in the game, with four of the top five batters recording at least a hit. Turek picked up her third win of the season, pitching a complete game by allowing one earned run and striking out five.

The second game of the day saw the Hawks take the lead first, scoring two runs in the top of the third. They then added an additional four runs in the top of the fourth, taking a 6-0 lead.

The Spartans struck back in the bottom of the inning as Russo was driven in by Evans to make it a 6-1 game. In the bottom of the fifth, D'Youville was able to continue to close the gap on the Hawks. Sarah Marino (Buffalo, NY/Holy Angels Academy) walked, with the next two batters reaching base to load the bases. Two batters later, Turek singled to score a run and make it a 6-2 score.

Hilbert tacked on another run in the top of the seventh, giving the Spartans one final half inning to regain control of the game. The second and third batters of the inning reached base and were driven home by an Evans single down the left field line, closing the deficit to 7-4. However D'Youville was unable to close the gap any further as they would fall to the Hawks by the final 7-4.

Carney and Russo each had two hits in the game, with Russo scoring a team high two runs. Each of the top four hitters in the lineup had at least one hit, with Evans driving in a team high two runs. Coming in relief after 3.2 innings of work from Turek, Alexis Dymond (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West) pitched 3.1 innings, allowing three hits, one run and striking out two.

The next pair of games for the women comes this Saturday, April 1 at Franciscan. Game one of the doubleheader begins at 1pm with game two to follow at 3pm.