ST. LOUIS - The Saint Joseph's softball team dropped the finale of a three-game series at Saint Louis, 6-5, Sunday afternoon.

The Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, starting with an RBI single by Kaylyn Zierke that scored Raelynn Genovese. Senior Brandi Harkness followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Amanda Kulp to give SJU a two-run lead.

Saint Louis slowly chipped away at the Hawks' lead, scoring a run in the third and another in the fifth against SJU starter Ashley Ventura to make it 2-2.

A three-run sixth gave the Hawks the lead again though, with Sarah Yoos and Zierke picking up RBI singles, followed later in the inning by another Harkness sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.

The Billikens would rally again though, this time in their final at-bat. Saint Louis scored four runs on four hits, taking advantage of a SJU error with two outs to score the winning run.

Ventura finished the day going five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and striking out seven. Sophomore Madison Clarke fell to 6-7 on the year with the loss, allowing three earned runs over 1.2 innings, while senior Anna Lauterbach made an appearance for SJU.

At the plate, Zierke led the way, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

The Hawks (16-22-1) return to action this Wednesday when they host La Salle in a doubleheader set to start at 3 p.m.

More to come.