WEEHAWKEN, N.J. – It was certainly a close call but in the end the Susquehanna softball team came away with a doubleheader sweep of Drew in the Landmark Conference opener for both squads.

The Crusaders (9-3, 2-0) saw a 7-3 lead in game two trimmed to just one run late in the seventh inning (7-6), but starting pitcher Jamie Fesinstine (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) came up big when she needed to and SU held on for the 7-6 win. That victory came on the heels of a 7-2 game one win.

The series was played in Weehawken, N.J. due to field conditions at Drew University.

In the game one victory, Morgan Lewis (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) tossed seven innings of two-run ball with just one of those runs earned. She scattered five hits and struck out five batters.

Alyssa Cantalini (Kitchener, Ontario/St. David Catholic Secondary) went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored. Heather Pearson (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton) had two hits and two runs scored while driving in another as SU racked up 13 hits in the game.

In the first inning, Amanda Neveroski (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) came through with a RBI single that plated Brianna Murphy (Hazlet, N.J./Mater Dei Prep), who led off the game with a single.

SU remained ahead 1-0 before adding three runs in the third inning. With two outs, Cantalini knocked a two-run homer to left field for a 3-0 game. The fourth run of the game scored on an error by the Drew shortstop for a 4-0 Crusader lead.

The Rangers pushed two runs across in their half of the fifth inning but Susquehanna got back one of those runs in the sixth on Murphy's RBI single.

SU added two insurance runs in the seventh. Cantalini led off with a single to left and later scored on Pearson's single to left field. Kelly Miller's (Kendall Park, N.J./South Brunswick) two-out single to right scored Pearson and it stood 7-2.

Drew's Phylicia Pellot led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and a one-out walk put two runners on but Lewis retired the final two batters to pick up her fourth win of the season.



In the nightcap, Fesinstine went the distance, giving up six runs on 11 hits but had eight strikeouts to three walks.

Offensively, Leigh Ann Greenwald (Piscataway, N.J./Immaculata) was 3-for-3 with two RBI. McKayla Brady (Green Brook, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) added two hits and two RBI as well as one run scored.

SU got on the board in the top of the second. Bridget Rafter (Highlands, N.J./Henry Hudson Regional) led off with a single to right field and Greenwald's two-out single up the middle scored Rafter for a 1-0 SU lead.

Drew, though, took a 2-1 lead courtesy of a two-run third inning with both runs scoring on Kristin Zeigler's single to right center.

That quickly changed when Susquehanna exploded for a six-run fifth inning to regain the lead, 7-2. Cantalini drove in one run on a RBI double and Rafter's sac bunt plated another run. Brady came through with a two-run double to center and Greenwald and Lauren Creamer (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) also both had RBI singles and SU came out of the inning five runs ahead.

Drew plated a run in the sixth to make it a 7-3 game, which remained the score heading into the bottom of the seventh, where things got a bit close for the Crusaders.

The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs and pushed two runs across on an error by Fesinstine for a 7-5 game. Fesinstine got Kira Scarangella to strike out swinging for the first out of the inning but Rebbeca Hutsebaut singled home another run and SU's lead was quickly cut to one (7-6).

Fesinstine retired the final two batters of the inning, though, as the Crusaders held on for the win.

Susquehanna is slated to open its home season on Tuesday, March 17 with a doubleheader against Dickinson beginning at 3 p.m.