BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn softball team was handed two tough losses Sunday afternoon on LIU Field, falling to defending Northeast Conference champion Saint Francis U., 9-0 and 22-4, in two games that were six and five innings long, respectively.
 
In the first game of the day, SFU sophomore Abby Trahan earned the win on the mound, pitching 6.0 scoreless innings, and giving up just six hits.
 
The Red Flash would opening scoring in the first inning, loading the bases. An RBI single to left center field would score one run, but the Blackbirds got an out at third. Starter Erynn Sobieski got the next batter to foul out, and would get the final out on the strike out swinging to limit the damage coming out of the frame. She would also get the third out to strike out in the top of the second with two runners on, causing the Red Flash to strand more of their own.
 
LIU threatened to score in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with just one out, but Trahan got the next two outs on a fly and aground out, to head into the third inning up 1-0. An RBI double in the third added a run to SFU's total, and a two run homer in the top of the fourth made it 4-0 for the visitors. Another RBI double in the top of the fifth increased the lead to five, but it was the top of the sixth when SFU blew the game open. The visitors would use four straight hits and an error to score one run, before a two-RBI double to center field cleared the bases and put the Red Flash on top, 9-0.
 
Though senior Angie Vazquez would lead off with a hit in the bottom of the sixth, the next three LIU batters got out, and the Red Flash had clinched the six-inning win. Sobieski had the complete game loss on the mound, moving to 7-10 on the season.
 
The second game had a promising start for LIU. Though SFU opened the game with a three-run homer in the top of the first frame, the Blackbirds answered right away. Two walks and a single by freshman Kiana Cisneros got LIU started with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. Senior Victoria Zamora would get LIU's first run across the plate with her single through the left side. And two outs later, Vazquez came up big for LIU, singling up the middle to bring home Cisneros and Patricia Griffin and tie it up, 3-3.
 
But SFU would score a run in the top of the next inning, and added three more runs in the top of the third to go up, 7-3. In the top of the fourth and fifth inning, however, the Red Flash widened the distance to an insurmountable lead. The visiting team would score seven runs in the fourth inning, including a grand slam, to go up, 14-3. And in the bottom of the fifth, the visitors added eight more runs to take the win and complete the sweep, 22-4.

Up next, the Blackbirds host Hofstra for a midweek matchup, Wednesday, April 18 at 4 p.m., before hitting the road to take on Mount St. Mary's, Saturday, April 21 at 1 p.m.