WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. -- Just a little over one year after making her head coaching debut by defeating No. 6-ranked Madonna University (Mich.) by a single run, head coach Alyssa Moreno's squad duplicated the feat by defeating another Top 10 ranked opponent by one run on Friday afternoon when the Fighting Saints recorded a 7-6 victory over No. 7-ranked University of the Cumberlands (Ky.).  The 17-hit offensive onslaught gave the Saints their third straight win of the 2025-26 season, but a first-inning outburst by the Patriots in the nightcap of the doubleheader kept the Fighting Saints from registering their fourth victory with 7-6 and 20-6 final scores.

Eight Saints recorded multi-hit games on the day with five Saints producing hits in each contest.  Missy Saldana (5-for-8) led the pack with her five hits and two RBIs.  Jaelynn Taylor also authored a bases-clearing double to secure three RBIs in the first contest.  In total, St. Francis recorded 25 hits between the two games.

Game 1:  USF 7, Cumberlands 6
St. Francis (3-1) got off to a quick start against Cumberlands (7-2) in game one en route to scoring a 7-6 victory to open up the team's three-game set against the Patriots.  The Saints asserted their offensive dominance through a powerful offensive attack, using 17 hits to produce their season-high run total.

There was plenty of offense to go around for USF with seven different players authoring multi-hit games.  Saldana led the way with three single, two runs scored, and one RBI.

Other big hitters in the game were Taylor (3-for-4, 3 RBI), Kylie Cook (2-for-4, 1 RBI), Isabella Landeros (2-for-4), Kamryn Koontz (2-for-4), Morgan Smardo (2-for-4) and Sarah Viar (2-for-5).  Emily Hurst also added one hit to the Saints' offensive effort, while authoring one RBI.

St. Francis began the game sending eight hitters to the plate in the first inning, which produced three runs.  The biggest swing of the game belonged to Taylor who produced a bases-clearing double which scored Saldana, Viar and Cook, who all previously reached base via singles.

After the Patriots worked themselves back into the ballgame by tying the score at 3-3 after scoring a run in three of their first four innings, the Saints responded by plating their fourth run of the game in the fifth frame off a Koontz double to the left center gap to score Taylor followed by a two-run frame in the sixth stanza with RBI singles from Cook and Hurst to go up 6-3.

Not to be outdone with the dramatics, the Patriots authored a multi-run inning of their own with a three-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score up for the second time in the game.  The homerun would chase starting pitcher Kaitlyn Schofield out of the circle with Emily Boyle retiring two of the next three batters and leading the Saints to the final frame with a 6-6 score.

In the seventh, Saldana and Boyle would team up to seal the win for the Saints on both sides of the ball after the former reached base via a walk and the latter plated her with a two-out single to right field in the top half of the inning.  In the bottom half of the frame, with the game-tying runner on second, it was Saldana who would save the day on the defensive end, showcasing a sensational catch in the right-center gap preventing Patriots the opportunity to tie the game giving the Saints the 7-6 win.

Schofield notched seven strikeouts over the first 5.1 innings of play in her no-decision before Boyle (2-0) picked up the win in the circle.  The junior out did not allow a hit in her 1.2 innings of relief work while inducing three groundball outs.

Game 2:  Cumberlands 20, Cumberlands 6
After scoring 14 runs, eight of which were unearned, in the first inning and another unearned run in the second, the Saints produced the loudest hit of the day in the third inning when Hurst connected for a towering grand slam that scored Smardo, Saldana and Viar, who had all reached base earlier in the inning via singles.  The Patriots added five more unearned runs in the third, before the Saints tacked on two more scores to their tally off RBIs from Saldana and Cook in the fourth.  Julianna Anderson also connected for her first career hit in a Saints' jersey in the inning with a single down the leftfield line.

Up Next
The Saints will square off against Cumberlands again on Saturday in a single-game contest as part of its two-day road trip.  Game time is slated for 11 am CST.

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