MOTEVALLO, Ala. – The Simon Fraser University softball team opened the Falcon Frenzy Tournament with two decisive victories, winning 7-4 in the opener against Stillman College before earning a 13-6 victory over McKendree University.

With the pair of wins, the Clan improves to 5-4 on the season with seven games remaining before their conference schedule begins on February 27.

Simon Fraser established a 4-2 lead after two innings of play in game one against Stillman College. After hitting a lead-off triple, Taylor Gillis scored the Clan's first run of the game in the bottom of the first off a Stephanie Caron single. Caron would come in to score later in the inning. The Tigers' Autumn Bonne homered in the top of the second to tie the game up at 2-2 but doubles by Gillis, Taylor Lundrigan and Nicole Ratel in the bottom of the inning helped SFU put two more runs on the board.

The score stayed at 4-2 for the next two innings before the Clan scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-2. Stillman scored a run in the top of the sixth and seventh innings but that would be as close as they could get as Simon Fraser picked up the 7-4 win.

"Alia (Stachoski ) pitched herself out of a jam in the fourth and then our offence came alive in the fifth," said Clan head coach Mike Renney. "We shifted momentum in our favour at that point and we were in control."

Gillis went 2-for-4 in the game and scored two runs while Caron and Katherine Murnaghan both finished with two hits and one RBI. Rachel Proctor had a triple in the fifth and was 1-for-3 at the plate with one RBI and one run scored.

The winning pitcher is sophomore Alia Stachoski, who conceded four runs on eight hits and had five strikeouts in six and two-thirds innings. She was one batter short of a complete game. Tori Belton earned a save, striking out the only batter she faced in the top of the seventh to seal the win for SFU.

In the second game, the Clan exploded for six runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 6-1 lead over McKendree University. Proctor got things started for Simon Fraser as she drove in Gillis and Caron with an RBI single before Alex Baylak's double brought Ratel and Proctor across home plate. Baylak would come in to score from a double by Marina DeAngelis and Murnaghan represented the sixth run scored by SFU in the inning.

The Bearcats cut their deficit in half, 6-3, after two innings but the Clan extended its lead to 8-3 with two runs in the third. McKendree responded with two runs of their own in top of the fourth to make it a three-run game again. SFU went on to add two runs in the bottom of the inning, including a home run to right centre by Lundrigan, to lead 10-5 after four innings.

Simon Fraser grew the lead to 12-5 in the fifth courtesy of a two-run homer by Caron, her first-ever for the Clan in four seasons, and the Clan scored one more run in the sixth inning to make the final score 13-6.

DeAngelis was 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Five Clan players had two hits in the game, contributing to SFU's season-high 16-hits in the contest. Caron finished the game going 2-for-3, driving in three runs and scoring two runs.
Senior Jessica Goulet pitched three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits with three strike outs. Belton made her second appearance of the day for Simon Fraser replacing Goulet in the fourth inning. She faced 20 batters and surrendered just one run on four hits and earned four strikeouts to get the win.

"It was a gutsy effort by Jess," said Renney. "She didn't have her best stuff going, and she struggled at times, but she found a way to get the outs long enough for our bats to take over."

The Falcon Frenzy Tournament continues tomorrow with SFU taking on the University of Montevallo at 7AM (PT) and Auburn University Montgomery at 9AM (PT). Live stats and live video will be available for the contest against the Falcons.

Follow the SFU Clan softball team for behind the scenes pictures and more all season long on their official Instagram account.Follow the SFU Clan softball team for behind the scenes pictures and more all season long on their official Instagram
account.

--@SFUClan--