JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Purple Eagles softball team concluded its six-game road trip on Sunday afternoon with two great scoring outputs in a sweep of the Saint Peter's Peacocks. Niagara tied its season-high for runs in a game with a 9-5 win to start the day, only to best that mark with an 11-8 victory to end the day at Jaroschak Field.
 
Taylor Moody hit 5-for-6 on the day, including a home run, while scoring three times. Chanelle Ward and Jerri Ann Orfano matched Moody with five hits each, while tying for the team lead with four runs batted in. Six players batted over .500 on the day as Niagara (7-29, 5-5 MAAC) returns home on a three-game winning streak.
 
Niagara 9, Saint Peter's 5
 
In the first game of the day, Niagara jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second inning, extending that lead to 9-1 before Saint Peter's began to come back in the final innings of play. Bridget Hogan earned her first win of the season with a tremendous 12 strikeouts in the complete game, giving up five runs on 11 hits, including four runs in the final three innings as the Peacocks came back.
 
Hogan struck out the side in the first inning against Saint Peter's (0-33, 0-10 MAAC), and Niagara opened the scoring with a four-run second inning. With two outs on the board, Moody and Sarah Trifoso singled to get on base, and both scored on a single to center field by Brianna Clark. The inning rolled right along with the next batter, as Sarah March hit her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot as Clark came home to make it 4-0 Niagara.
 
The Purple Eagles headed to the top of the fourth inning up 5-1, and brought in another four runs to push the lead to eight. Orfano slammed a double to left center and advancing to third as the play progressed, scoring Ward, but Hogan was thrown out at home, denying Niagara another run. A hit my Maria Gabriele was mishandled at third by the Peacocks, allowing Orfano to score and Gabriele to reach, before Moody slammed Niagara's second homer of the day over the fence to make it 9-1.
 
Hogan and the Purple Eagles gave up four runs to Saint Peter's in the final three innings, but the pitcher got six of Niagara's final nine outs via strikeouts, as the early lead proved to be enough for the win.
 
Niagara 11, Saint Peter's 8
 
The Purple Eagles wasted no time getting another early lead in game two, going up 8-0 after three innings. Sydney Smyers picked up the 11-8 win in the circle, striking out six batters and walking just one, as Saint Peter's scored five runs on eight hits against her.
 
A triple by Hogan – the first by a Niagara player this season – and a home run deep to center field by Orfano put Niagara up 3-0 after the first. After Ward brought a run in on a sacrifice fly, Orfano picked up another RBI in the second, doubling down the left field line to score Hogan. Niagara went up 8-0 in the top of the third, as Jennifer Timm scored on a sacrifice fly by Victoria Bretz, and Ward batted in her second and third runs of the game on a deep double to left center field.
 
Leading 8-1 in the top of the seventh, Niagara ran up three more runs to make it 11-1. With the bases loaded, Ward grounded out to short, but Trifoso scored the first Niagara run of the inning. The next two batters in the lineup, Clark and Gabriele, followed with RBI singles to give Niagara the ten-run lead and its highest-scoring game to date in the 2016 season.
 
Not to be denied, Saint Peter's came back with seven runs in the final inning of play, scoring three runs on two homers against Smyers, prompting a change to Sierra Bertrand in the circle with no outs on the board. The Peacocks scored another four runs on four hits and two errors, but with the tying run at the plate, Bertrand struck out the final batter for the win.
 
Now on a three-game winning streak, Niagara turns around and prepares to host Canisius for the annual Battle of the Bridge doubleheader. Opening pitch between Niagara and Canisius is set for 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26.
 
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