Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State softball team dropped a pair of games Saturday to open its 2012 campaign on a clear, crisp February afternoon at the NSU Softball Field. The Spartans dropped a heartbreaker to Marist, 5-3, in eight innings, and then Fairleigh Dickinson pounded out 15 hits in a 12-1 win over NSU in five innings.

Sophomore pitcher Jamie Schulle fared well in the first game against Marist, pitching all eight innings and giving up five runs, but just one earned, while striking out five. Schulle made one major mistake in the game, a three-run home run by Aly Klemmer in the top of the eighth that propelled the Red Foxes to the victory.

The Spartans rallied in the bottom of the frame, as senior center fielder Danielle Wright lined one into center field to score pinch runner Haley Ward. The Spartans then had the tying runs on base after sophomore Morgan Boyd got on base with a bunt single, but Marist pitcher Melanie White escaped the jam after getting sophomore catcher Kathy Cortez to hit a harder liner back to the pitcher's circle for the final out.

White pitched all eight innings for the Red Foxes, giving up nine hits and three runs, two earned, with five walks and six strikeouts. Schulle gave up eight hits in the game as well and walked three.

In the second game, Elizabeth Woidt and Caitlin Bradac combined for seven hits and seven RBI for Fairleigh Dickinson to lead a potent offensive attack. Freshman Liz Riley took the loss for NSU, allowing seven runs, five earned, on eight hits in 2.1 innings of work. Megan Reiner shut the Spartans down for FDU, pitching all five innings and giving up three hits and just one earned run with four strikeouts.

Boyd and freshman shortstop Whittni Gray each had two hits against Marist, while senior third baseman Whitney Holland added a pair of hits as well over the two games.

The Spartans got things going against Marist in the top of the first, as Wright got plunked by the pitch and Boyd hit an infield single to get the first two batters on base. Cortez then lined a shot into right center to score Wright from second and send Boyd to third base. Holland hit a popup in between second and first base, and Boyd came home when the first and second basemen for Marist let the ball drop in between them.

Schulle, meanwhile, had gotten out of a pair of jams in the top of the first and the fourth. The Red Foxes had runners on second and third with just one out in the first, but Schulle got a strikeout and a hit back to the circle to end that threat. Then, in the fourth, with two runners on again, Schulle got designated player Joelle Zahka to fly out to deep left field to keep the Red Foxes off the scoreboard.

Marist, though, tied it up with two runs in the top of the fifth thanks to a pair of infield errors on the Spartans. NSU, though, had two more opportunities to score before extra innings, in both the sixth and seventh frames.

The Spartans stranded a pair of runners on first and second in the sixth after Gray had singled with two outs. Then, in the seventh, Holland drew a walk with two outs to get another rally going for NSU. Junior second baseman Gipsy Ramirez and junior left fielder Gillian Giarrizzo then singled into left field to load the bases before White got out of the jam with another strikeout.

In the second game of the afternoon for the Spartans, FDU tallied four runs in the top of the first and then another five in the third to take a 9-0 lead. Marikka Benson hit a two-run single in the first, while Bradac added a two-run double in the third to help break the game open.

Bradac also hit a solo homer in the second, while Woidt added a two-run shot deep over the left field fence in the fifth inning to cap the scoring for the Knights.

NSU's doubleheader on Monday against Canisius has been cancelled due to the threat of rain on Sunday. The Spartans will return to the field next Saturday at 9 a.m. for the Spartan Classic. NSU will host Army, Monmouth and Delaware for an eight-game tournament over two days at the NSU Softball Field.