ST. LOUIS - The Saint Joseph's softball team earned a split with Saint Louis in its doubleheader on Sunday as the Hawks earned a 4-2 win in the opener but fell in the nightcap, 3-1. 

In game one, the Billikens jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as they took advanatge of a fielding error by the Hawks.

Saint Joseph's answered back in the top of the fifth with three runs to open a 3-1 advantage. A double by Molly Kapala scored Jancarla Herrera and Lauren Reilly to give the Hawks the lead, while Kapala came around to score on an RBI bunt single by Amanda Kulp to push the score to 3-1.

A leadoff home run in the bottom of the sixth by Alyssa Chavez cut the SJU lead to 3-2, but the Hawks answered back with an insurance run in the seventh as Kulp scored on an single by Caela Abadie to make it 4-2.

Ahead by two, senior Madison Clarke finished off the complete game, working around a one-out single to earn the victory. 

Clarke improved to 3-3 on the season with the win as she allowed just one earned run on eight hits, while striking out four. 

At the plate, Kulp was 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Abadie was 2-for-4 with a run batted in.

In game two, Saint Louis again took the lead early as the Billikens hit back-to-back home runs in the second to take a 2-1 lead.

Kulp scored off a double by Abadie in the fourth to make it 2-1, but Saint Louis got a run back in the fifth on an RBI double by Allie Macfarlane.

Saint Joseph's threatened in the sixth, but the Billikens' Maddie Baalman worked out of trouble and sat the Hawks down in order in the seventh to close out the game.

Abadie and Taryn Grober accounted for SJU's two hits in the game, while rookie Chelsea Evans (0-1) tossed six innings and struck out three in her first career start.

The Hawks (10-13, 1-2 A-10) return to action on Wednesday when they open the home portion of their schedule against Delaware with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

Follow the Saint Joseph's softball team on Twitter and like the Hawks on Facebook.

SJU alumnae, family and friends, the Hawks will host SJU Softball Alumnae and Family Day on Saturday, April 14 in conjunction with their noon doubleheader versus Dayton. Registration can be made online by visiting alumni.sju.edu/softball.  For more information, contact Christina Henderson at 610-660-3280 or chenders@sju.edu.

Receive all of the latest news and info on SJU softball with Hawk E-News – SIGN UP