WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University softball team (5-13, 1-11 NEWMAC) battled with Emerson (15-15, 2-10 NEWMAC) on Friday afternoon from the O'Brien Softball Field, but fell in a pair of one-run games.

Clark dropped game one 4-3 and game two 7-6.  

Game One: Emerson 4, Clark 3

• Junior Nicole Buckley took the bump for the Cougars and tossed a scoreless first and second inning and in the bottom of the second, sophomore Rebecca Mauro recorded Clark's first hit of the afternoon.
• Buckley's shutout continued through three innings before the Lions scored three runs in the top of the fourth and Buckley singled to left center in the bottom of the fifth, but was left on base.
• Senior Francesca Cirone doubled in the bottom of the sixth, but again the Lions got out of the jam.
• In the bottom of the seventh, Clark's offense erupted led by an RBI single from Mauro, a single from junior Natalie Stilwell that scored Mauro, and an RBI sacrifice fly from junior Kaylee Armida to make it a 4-3 ball game, but Emerson recorded the final out of the game to win game one.

Game Two: Emerson 7, Clark 6

• Senior Kaylee Gibson took the mound in game two for Clark and retired the side in order in the top of the first.
• Mauro hit a ball to center field in the bottom of the first that scored sophomore Samantha Crowley to give Clark a 1-0 lead.
• Gibson tossed two more shutout innings before Emerson tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth and the Cougars regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Armida hit a sacrifice fly that scored Mauro and senior Jessica Martin singled to center field to score Gibson.
• The Lions tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth and the Cougars again roared back in the bottom half of the inning with runs scored by Crowley and junior Eliza Lindberg to take a 5-3 lead.
• After Clark fell behind 7-5 in the top of the seventh, Gibson singled up the middle to score Crowley with two outs and Armida singled up the middle to advance Gibson to second, but Emerson came away with a 7-6 victory.

What's Next

The Cougars will host its senior day tomorrow with a conference series against WPI beginning at 12:00 p.m.