Box Score LORETTO, Pa. – Senior Nereyda Gutierrez hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning Thursday afternoon to tie the game up 5-5, and give the LIU Brooklyn softball team a fighting chance against host Saint Francis U. But the top seeded home team would score three runs in the bottom of the next inning, taking the first round win over the Blackbirds, 8-5, in the Northeast Conference Tournament.
 
With the loss, LIU will play their backs against the wall Friday afternoon. The Blackbirds, who will take on the loser of the CCSU/Sacred Heart game, will have to win to advance in the double elimination tournament.
 
The Blackbirds struck first in Thursday's game, getting on the board in the top of the second inning. Freshman Ryleigh Bermea would reach on a single, and was advanced on classmate Kiana Cisneros' single to left field. Junior Evie Clausell came up next, and hit another single to left field that would score the speedy Bermea from second, making it 1-0 LIU. But SFU answered, as they would all day, with big bats. In the bottom of the frame, a one-out home run tied the game up, 1-1.
 
LIU jumped out to a lead once again in the top of the third. Sophomore Patricia Griffin had a double to get on base, and senior Victoria Zamora was hit by a pitch. With two on and just one out, SFU got nervous, and a fielding error on the next at bat would allow Griffin to come home. Then, with two outs, Cisneros came up big for the Blackbirds, hitting a double to left center field that would bring home one more run, and LIU had a 3-1 advantage.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the home team took the lead for the first time, scoring four runs on two two-run homeruns over the left field fence that made it 5-3. In the top of the fifth, however, Gutierrez matched the home team's firepower, hitting a two-run homer of her own that tied it up, 5-5.
 
Pitcher Victoria Lowe would get out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth, striking a batter out with the bases loaded the end the inning, but was not as lucky in the bottom of the sixth. The home team would once again hit two home runs in the inning, scoring three runs to take an 8-5 lead.
 
In the top of the seventh, LIU would get runners in scoring position, but couldn't get them across the plate, and the game ended in favor of the home team, 8-5.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Patricia Griffin led LIU at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Neryeda Gutierrez had two RBI. Freshman Kiana Cisneros went 2-for-4 for LIU with an RBI.
• Freshman Victoria Lowe (5-6) had the loss on the mound for the Blackbirds.
• Up next, LIU will take on the loser of the CCSU/SHU game, Friday, May 11 at 1 p.m.