GREENVILLE, N.C. - The Saint Joseph's softball team continued play at the Pirate Clash on Saturday as the Hawks competed versus Towson and host East Carolina, but ultimately fell, 7-2, and 3-1, respectively.

In the opener, Towson scored three in the third and upped its lead to 4-0 with a run in the fifth.

Saint Joseph's rallied in the bottom of the sixth though, scoring twice to make it 4-2. Sarah Ostaszewski led off the inning with her first home run of the season, and rookie Taylor Marinelli singled home Stacey Mayer.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Tigers answered with three insurance runs in the top of the seventh and held SJU off the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning to preserve the win.

Taryn Grober went 2-for-3 in game one for SJU, while Ashley Ventura fell to 0-2 on the season after allowing four earned runs over five innings, while finishing with a pair of strike outs.

In a defensive battle in game two, East Carolina struck for three runs on four hits in the bottom of the third to open a 3-0 edge.

Saint Joseph's offense broke through in the top of the seventh as Raelynn Genovese's sacrifice fly scored Mayer to make it 3-1. With the tying runs on base and one out, the Pirates worked out of trouble to hold on for the 3-1 win.

In the circle, SJU's Madison Clarke moved to 1-1 on the year as she allowed three runs over six innings, while striking out one. Genovese was the lone Hawk to collect multiple hits, going 2-for-2 against ECU.

The Hawks (1-3) wrap up play at the Pirate Clash at 9 a.m. on Sunday versus UMBC.

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