Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Softball team returned to action on Tuesday and dropped a 4-0 decision to FDU-Florham in game one, while the two sides settled for a 2-2 tie in game two. Nicolette Moustouka (Seaford, N.Y.) drove in the tying run for the Knights in game two in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Game 1: Mount Saint Mary 0 – FDU-Florham 4
The Mount was held to just an infield single in Tuesday's opener and was outhit 9-1 in the contest. The Devils plated single runs in the second, third, fifth and seventh inning to earn the win.
 
The Devils opened the scoring in the second inning when Colleen Conway drove in Dana Giardina with a single to right field for the only run the team would need. FDU-Florham doubled the lead in the third when Tara Morash shot a single through the left side that delivered Annamarie Santangelo for the early 2-0 advantage.
 
The visitors added a run to their lead in the fifth when Dani Sames pushed home Gabby Young on a run scoring groundout before closing out the scoring in the game in their final at-bat when Sames delivered Young for a second time with an RBI groundout.
 
After a walk in the first inning to Jillian Picarillo (Troy, N.Y.), the Knights' only other base runner came when Amanda Almodovar (Goshen, N.Y.) beat out a single to shortstop in the home half of the third inning. Almodovar finished the game 1-for-3 for the Mount.
 
Morash and Giardina each finished with two hits for the Devils with Sames driving in a pair of runs. Young drew two walks and added a hit and a pair of runs scored to the winning effort for FDU-Florham.
 
Junior Bridget Bennett (Gardiner, N.Y.) suffered the loss in the circle, working a complete game and allowing three earned runs. She allowed nine hits and two walks while fanning three. Kaleigh Oplinger picked up her eighth win of the season, striking out two and allowing one hit in the shutout.
 
Game 2: Mount Saint Mary 2 – FDU-Florham 2 (Final/8)
The Devils got off to another quick start in game two, jumping out to a 1-0 in the third inning and adding a run in the fourth for a two-run advantage. Sames pushed home Young for the third time on the day with an infield single to open the scoring, before Morgan DeLoreto drove a home run to center field in the fourth for the two run lead.
 
Mount Saint Mary answered back with its first run of the day in the home half of the fourth and knotted the score in the seventh to force the extra frame. Moustouka led off the fourth with a walk and later scored on a single to right center field off the bat of Morgan O'Neill (Little Falls, N.J.)
 
The Knights stayed within a run until the seventh when Almodovar drove a triple to right center field with one out in the bottom of the seventh. She later crossed with the tying run when Moustouka shot a single through the left side to even things up at 2-2.
 
With the international tiebreaker in effect, neither team would score in the eighth before rain and darkness forced the game to be called with it tied at 2-2.
 
Almodovar finished 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot with a run scored in game two with Moustouka going 1-for-2 with a run, RBI and a pair of walks. O'Neill rounded out the nightcap with a hit and an RBI for the Knights.
 
O'Neill made the start in the circle and allowed two runs on five hits in 3.1 innings. MacKenzie Hymes (Middletown, Del.) came on in relief and allowed just three hits in 4.2 innings. Megan Zaccario struck out three in 4.0 innings for the Devils, with Ciara Hoffman allowing a run on four hits in 4.0 innings of action.
 
Following Tuesday's results, Mount Saint Mary stands at 12-19-1 heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Knights will host Farmingdale State on Senior Day on Saturday with first pitch set for 12:00 p.m.