POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Purple Eagles softball team held a late lead over the MAAC-leading Marist Red Foxes in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, but Marist rallied late to win 6-3. In game two, one early run from the Red Foxes was enough to send Niagara to a 1-0 loss Saturday afternoon at Gartland Field.
 
Bridget Hogan led the Purple Eagles' hitters with a 2-for-5 effort with one double and one RBI on the day. Sarah March hit 2-for-7, and Jennifer Szilagyi earned a team-high two RBIs.
 
Marist 6, Niagara 3
 
After giving Marist a one-run lead in the first inning, the Purple Eagles came back to go ahead 3-1 after the top of the fifth inning. However, the Red Foxes would narrow the deficit to one in the bottom of the fifth before a four-run effort from Marist in the sixth sent Niagara to a 6-3 loss. Hogan pitched the complete game for Niagara, giving up six runs on eight hits while striking out one.
 
The Purple Eagles (2-18, 0-2 MAAC) got on the board with a two-run fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. After Chanelle Ward and Hogan singled to get on base, a sacrifice bunt from Jennifer Timm moved the runners to second and third. Szilagyi then came up to bat and sent a strike to left center field for a double, scoring both Ward and Hogan. Niagara then held Marist scoreless in the bottom of the fourth before Hogan scored Taylor Moody on an RBI double to take a 3-1 run in the fifth.
 
After Marist brought the score to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Red Foxes scored an RBI off of a bases-loaded walk before Casey Page hit a three-run double before being thrown out at third. Marist held Niagara off the board in the top of the seventh, ending the game at 6-3.
 
Marist 1, Niagara 0
 
For the second straight game, Marist took a 1-0 run after the first inning. Niagara found three hits through the next six innings while allowing just two more to Marist, but could not find a tying run. 
 
Marist's Maureen Duddy singled to open the bottom of the first for the Red Foxes, eventually scoring off of a throwing error before Niagara's defense closed out the inning. March, Maria Gabriele, and Sarah Trifoso all earned hits for the Purple Eagles, but none found a tying run for the Purple Eagles.
 
Sierra Bertrand pitched the complete game for Niagara, throwing six innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits to Marist while striking out two.
 
With Niagara's doubleheader at Quinnipiac rescheduled from tomorrow to May 8, the Purple Eagles will return to action on Wednesday, April 6 as they face the Youngstown State Penguins. From there, Niagara flies west to face the University of Nevada in a three-game series on April 8 and 9.
 
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