Anna Hoppe doubles home two runs in 11th to lift Ravens to victory

CLERMONT, Fla. (March 15, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University softball team split its doubleheader on Monday, and in the process, picked up its first win of the 2011 season. The Ravens fell to Nyack, 4-0, in the day's first game, but scratched out a 9-7 win in 11 innings over Philadelphia University in the second game.

After the tough setback to Nyack, the Ravens responded with the impressive win over Philadelphia in extra frames. The Rams did score twice in the top of the first to open the scoring, but the Ravens answered with a run in both the third and fifth innings to knot the score at 2-2. Both teams traded a run in both the eighth and ninth innings, and then swaped a pair of runs in the 10th inning. Philadelphia pushed a run across in the top of the 11th, but Franklin Pierce rallied with three runs in the bottom half of the frame to pull off the come-from-behind victory.

Senior infielder Anna Hoppe (North Hero, Vt.) doubled in two runs in the 11th to lift the Ravens to victory. Freshman shortstop Jamie Wiley (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) stroked three singles and drove in a pair of runs as well, while junior outfielder Nicole Pratt (Gardner, Mass.) scored three times. Junior catcher Jamie Verner (Natick, Mass.) also collected an RBI on the afternoon.

Sophomore pitcher Rachel Allen (Hull, Mass.) got the start in the circle, but went just two innings as senior Kayla Johnson (Hudson, N.H.) came on in relief and pitched the final nine innings to earn the victory. Johnson yielded four runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. Just one of the four runs she allowed was earned.

For more information on Franklin Pierce softball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com).