RINDGE, N.H. (5/8/26) – The Franklin Pierce softball team saw its run in the Northeast-10 Championship Tournament come to an end on Friday afternoon, falling to Southern New Hampshire, 10-4, in an elimination game at Melissa Bisaccia Field. The Ravens now await the NCAA Division II Softball Championship Selection Show, which is set for Monday morning at 10 a.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Franklin Pierce wasted little time getting on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Camryn Van Valkenburgh (San Dimas, Calif.) opened the rally with a double to right center before Delaney Duford (Concord, N.H.) drove her home with an RBI single to second base. Later in the inning, Georgia Clough (Barriare, British Columbia) lined a single into right center to score Duford and give the Ravens an early 2-0 advantage.
- SNHU responded with a four-run second inning to take the lead. The Penmen used a pair of RBI fielder's choices along with RBI singles from Peyton Feldman and Kaysie DeMoura to move in front, 4-2.
- The Penmen added another run in the third inning on an RBI single from Tori Christie to extend the lead to 5-2.
- Franklin Pierce answered in the bottom half of the third. Van Valkenburgh singled down the right-field line before Alicia Ott (Stockton, Calif.) was hit by a pitch. After Duford reached on a fielder's choice, Clough delivered again with a two-run double to right center, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
- Southern New Hampshire pushed the lead back to two in the fourth inning when Mikaya Alto singled to left field to score Feldman.
- The Ravens threatened in the fifth and sixth innings, collecting hits from Ott and Bailey Dzivasen (Uxbridge, Mass.), but were unable to bring the tying run across.
- The Penmen created separation in the seventh inning. Consecutive singles from Payton Bryson and Feldman set the table before DeMoura tripled down the left-field line to score two runs. Southern New Hampshire later added another run on a throwing error to make it 10-4.
BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS
- Clough finished 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI.
- Van Valkenburgh recorded two hits, including a double, while scoring twice.
- Southern New Hampshire totaled 15 hits in the win, led by three-hit performances from Feldman and DeMoura.
- Julianna Colbert earned the complete-game victory for the Penmen, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out six.
UP NEXT FOR THE RAVENS: Franklin Pierce enters selection week with a 40-10 overall record after capturing the program's first-ever NE10 Regular Season Championship. The Ravens were ranked No. 1 in the most recent NCAA East Region rankings entering conference championship weekend.
