Canton, NY - Both St. Lawrence and the Clarkson University Softball team leaned heavily on their aces today and the two teams came away with a split as St. Lawrence won the first game 2-1 while the Golden Knights came away with a 9-1 victory in a six-inning contest.

The Golden Knights saw their record move to 11-4 overall and 1-1 with their first conference games of the season, while the Saints are now 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the Liberty League. Clarkson will get Sunday off but starts a busy week of games on Monday with a doubleheader against SUNY Canton at Scott Field.

Bridge lived up to her end of the bargain in what was expected to be a pitchers' duel in the opener as she struck out six of the first seven hitters she faced, but St. Lawrence's Kyle Plimpton was just as good and held the Knights scoreless through the first three frames. Clarkson got on the scoreboard first in the fourth inning when Chelsea Elliott led off the inning with a single to right-center and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Erika Jensen then delivered a single to left-center to plate Elliott and give Clarkson a 1-0 edge. St. Lawrence responded with a brief offensive outburst of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Brady Cooper singled up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but that proved unnecessary as Emma Reakes blasted a home run to left to give the Saints a 2-1 lead. Neither team mustered much offensively the rest of the way and Clarkson never really threatened again, as only one hitter reached base (a two-out walk in the seventh) in the final three frames.

Bridge suffered her first defeat of the season, striking out nine with no walks and only five hits allowed in six innings, while Plimpton gave up four hits and four walks but struck out 10 in a complete-game effort.

In game two, both pitchers took to the circle again but the fatigue from the first game was evident. After a combined 19 whiffs in the first game, the two combined for just six strikeouts in the second contest. The Saints scored in the bottom half of the first when Aisha O'Connor delivered a two-out double to start the late rally, and Reakes sent her home with a single to give St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead. It was the last run that the Saints would get as Bridge relied more heavily on her defense in game two yet still allowed only four hits in the contest. The same could not be said for Plimpton, who was rocked for 12 hits and three walks while only striking out two. The first runs the senior would allow came in the top of the third on a two-out, two-run double from Jensen. In the fifth, Clarkson scored another run when Summer Lancette led off with a walk and circled the bases on a double by Elliott. But the big inning came in the sixth as Clarkson tallied six times. Katie Scott and Bridge each singled, but with two outs the rally looked like it could be snuffed out. However, Lancette laced a triple to right-center to score both runs and give the Knights a 5-1 edge. Lancette then scored on a single by Elliott, and after another hit and a hit by pitch, Plimpton was done. However, her line wasn't finished as Ali Schwenzfeier cleared the bases with a hit to push Clarkson up 9-1. Despite allowing one hit in the bottom half of the sixth, Bridge finished the game unscathed and Clarkson earned the split.

Bridge went 3-for-4 in the second game, while Elliott, Schwenzfeier and Scott each went 2-for-4. Elliott drove in two and scored twice and Schwenzfeier drove home three.