TUCSON, Ariz. -- The University of St. Francis softball team opened an initial 2-0 lead in the front end of its doubleheader on Sunday afternoon and put together a seventh-inning rally in its second game, but could not come up with the win in either contest, suffering a 3-2, eight-inning setback to Concordia University (Mich.) and a 9-6 loss to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) on the first day of action at the 2025 Tucson Invitational Games.

Concordia (3-1) rallied with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to force a 2-2 tie after the Fighting Saints (2-4) had taken their 2-0 lead with single runs in the fourth and sixth frames.  Embry-Riddle (6-2) jumped out to a 9-0 lead after six innings with multiple runs in each of the first, third, fourth and sixth frames.

Kiersten Manning continued her dominance in the circle for the Saints with an eye-popping 17 strikeouts against Concordia.  She gave up just two hits after taking a no-hit bid into the sixth inning of the contest, while facing 26 total batters in 7 1/3 innings of work.

Four Saints produced hits in each contest, highlighted by Emily Hurst (4-for-8) and her five RBIs, which included her first career grand slam as a Saint against Embry-Riddle.  Morgan Smardo (2-for-5), Jaelynn Taylor (2-for-7) and Isabella Landeros (3-for-8) each had hits at the top of the order with the latter blasting her second triple of the season.  Jillian Zodrow added another three hits to the cause in her St. Francis debut, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate against Embry-Riddle in her first collegiate at-bats.

Game 1: Concordia 3, USF 2
After being no-hit by Manning through five innings of play, Concordia finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning with back-to-back extra-base hits to score its first run of the day.  The Cardinals would tie the score one batter later with a successful suicide squeeze knotting the score at 2-2.  Later in the inning, a wild pitch and a dropped fly ball would find the Saints in a bind with runners in scoring position at second and third base, but back-to-back strikeouts from Manning would squelch the Cardinals' scoring threat.

With the score still tied at the end of the seventh inning, international tie-breaking rules were instituted to begin the eighth, which saw each team begin its respective inning with a runner at second base.  St. Francis, which left runners in scoring position in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, failed to plate a run in the top half of its frame, setting up Concordia for the come-from-behind victory.  The Cardinals were able to draw the game-winning run when an overthrow to second base - in an attempt to double up the base runner - was committed following a spectacular diving catch off a popped-up bunt.

Game 2: Embry-Riddle 9, USF 6
Embry-Riddle opened up a 9-0 lead before the Saints made things interesting at the end with two runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh.

Seven Saints in all registered hits as part of USF's total of 12 with Hurst, Zodrow, Chylece Cluck and Hailey Kaddatz all posting multiple hits.  Hurst, Zodrow and Kaddatz also drove in runs in the contest.

Hurst's grand slam came in the four-run seventh inning to cut the Saint deficit to 9-6 at that point.  She also had a single in USF's two-run sixth inning.

Embry-Riddle's offense collected 15 hits in the contest, but also benefited greatly from USF's seven total walks allowed, which resulted in four runs for the Eagles in the game.  Of ERAU's 15 hits, nine were collected between Leah Salas and Autumn Sulsui, who also combined to score seven of Embry-Riddle's runs.

Up Next
The Saints will take the field again on Monday (March 3), facing La Sierra University (Calif.) at noon and Madonna University (Mich.) at 2:30 pm CST.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.