MERION STATION, Pa. - Home runs from Molly Kapala and Stacey Mayer sparked a four-run fifth inning as the Saint Joseph's softball team topped Saint Louis, 5-1, on Sunday at the SJU Softball Field. With Sunday's win, the Hawks moved to 2-1 in the Atlantic 10 and 8-15 overall.

In a 1-1 game, Saint Joseph's exploded to four runs thanks to Kapala and Mayer. Leading off the bottom half of the fifth, Kapala drilled a shot down the right field line to give the Hawks a 2-1 edge.

With runners at first and second and one out, Mayer stepped in and smacked a deep shot over the left field wall for her first home run of the season. Freshmen Jancarla Herrera and Sarah Ostaszewski scored on Mayer's homer as SJU upped its lead to 5-1.

Ahead by four, sophomore pitcher Ashley Ventura and the Hawks' defense made the lead stand as Saint Louis collected just one hit over the final two innings.

The Billikens (12-13, 1-2 A-10) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a RBI single by Alyssa Tarquinio with the bases loaded.

SJU starter Madison Clarke worked out of trouble from there as she got two quick outs.

The Hawks tied the game in the third as sophomore Amanda Kulp came around to score as the Saint Louis' second baseman couldn't cleanly field a ball off the bat of Ostaszewski.

The score remained tied until the fifth when Kapala's blast put the Hawks ahead for good.

At the plate, Kapala was 2-for-2 with the home run, while Kulp went 3-for-3 and Mayer finished 2-for-4 with a home run.

Ventura improved to 5-6 on the year as she allowed just one hit, while striking out four in six innings of relief. Clarke allowed one run on three hits in an inning of work and added a strike out in the no decision.

The Hawks are back in action on Wednesday at Monmouth at 3 p.m.