MIAMI - The LIU Brooklyn softball team opened its 2016 campaign in style, putting together a pair of impressive performances on the first day of play at the Juiceblendz FIU Invitational. In the season opener against Big Ten member Illinois, a sacrifice fly from senior Ariana Lopez in the bottom of the sixth inning scored sophomore Victoria Zamora for the game-winning run in a 6-4 victory. In game two of the day against reigning BIG EAST champion St. John's, freshman Tallie Woodson held the Red Storm to just one hit through the first six innings and held on in the seventh for a 3-2 win.

Woodson earned both victories in the circle for LIU, tossing nine innings and allowing just two earned runs while striking out four and not issuing a walk. Zamora closed with three hits, two runs scored and two runs driven in, while senior Celinna Cosio and sophomore Angie Vazquez also added three hits offensively.

Game One - Illinois
It was an inauspicious start for the Blackbirds in the first game of the day, as the Fighting Illini began the top of the first with a double and a single to put a pair on with nobody out. Sophomore Erynn Sobieski was able to limit the damage to just one run, however, which came on a one-out fielder's choice.

LIU Brooklyn answered right back in the bottom of the inning, as senior Whitney West led off with a base hit. Zamora was hit by a pitch and, after a groundout moved both runners up a base, an illegal pitch allowed West to come around and score to tie the game at 1-1. Two batters later, a wild pitch by Illinois starter Jade Vecvanags allowed Zamora to cross home plate and give the Blackbirds a 2-1 lead.

Sobieski worked around a single in the second inning to bring LIU back to the plate, and the Blackbirds tacked on to their lead. With two outs and a runner on first, junior Kayla Gloady and West each walked to load the bases for Zamora. After falling behind in the count 0-2, the reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year fought back to even the count at 2-2 before delivering a two-run single to left field that pushed the advantage to 4-1.

Illinois narrowed the margin with an unearned run in the third inning, then scored two more in the fourth to tie the score at 4-4. The Fighting Illini return the top four batters from a team ranked 28th in the country last season offensively with a .324 batting average and 6.1 runs scored per contest.

The Blackbirds threatened in the bottom of the fourth but could not push across the go-ahead run. Sobieski worked a perfect 1-2-3 top of the fifth to bring the bats back to the plate. Lopez walked then, two batters later, junior Kylie Mulholland also worked a base on balls. With two down, freshman Schae Dickson continued the trend with another free pass, but Vecvanags was able to escape the bases-loaded jam without allowing a run as the contest moved to the sixth knotted at 4-4.

Woodson entered the circle in the top of the sixth and received some help from her battery mate as Zamora threw out a runner, who had reached on a hit by pitch, attempting to steal to end the inning. That play set the stage for the sixth-inning heroics by LIU.

WIth one away, Zamora legged out an infield single. Cosio followed with a double to right to put a pair in scoring position with just one out. Lopez then lofted a fly ball into center field that was deep enough to score Zamora and give the Blackbirds a 5-4 lead. Vazquez tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single to make it 6-4. The Fighting Illini did get a leadoff single in the top of the seventh, but Woodson slammed the door with a flyout and a pair of ground outs to earn the victory in relief.

Game Two - St. John's
After a scoreless first inning, LIU Brooklyn jumped in front in the top of the second as Mulholland reached on a two-base error to start. A passed ball moved the Sewell, N.J. native to third and, with two outs, Gloady drove her home with a single to put the Blackbirds on top, 1-0.

Woodson started the contest and was in control from the start, mowing down the first eight batters she faced before an error with two outs in the third accounted for the first runner that St. John's produced in the game. After working around the threat, the lefthander saw her offense add to the lead in the top of the third.

A two-out error on St. John's allowed freshman Patricia Griffin, who reached on a walk, to score and West followed with an RBI single to put the score at 3-0 heading to the bottom of the third. Woodson allowed her first hit of the contest to lead off the frame, but started a 1-6-3 double play to erase the base runner. The twin killing began a string of 10 straight batters that were retired by the freshman.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, St. John's snapped the streak with a pair of singles that brought the potential tying run to the plate. Christina Melendez stepped to the plate and smacked a two-run double to center to bring the Red Storm to within one. But Woodson fought back and induced another double play, this one a line drive that was snagged by Gloady at short and flipped to Vazquez at second, to end the contest and move the Blackbirds to 2-0 for the first time since the 2008 season.

The victory over a Big Ten opponent for the first for the Blackbirds since defeating nationally-ranked Michigan, 2-1, in 2013. LIU did beat Maryland the following year, but as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The win over the Fighting Illini was the first in four attempts by the LIU Brooklyn program, and the victory over St. John's snapped a three-game skid against the local program.

LIU returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 13 at the FIU Invitational, taking on Valparaiso at 9:00 a.m. and No. 10 Florida State at 11:00 a.m.