Margo Hopper hit a three run double to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Skylar Hein followed with an RBI double to give St. Lawrence a 7-6 lead, and Gabby Slater worked around a leadoff single in the top of the seventh to lead the Saints' softball team to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Clarkson on Friday afternoon at Saints Softball Field.

The win was the first of the season for the Saints, who handed Clarkson its first Liberty League loss of the season. The Golden Knights won the first game of the Liberty League doubleheader, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh in a 4-0 win after a pitcher's duel between Clarkson's Oliva Zoeller and Slater.

"I'm so proud of the effort we put forward today," said St. Lawrence head coach Elisa VanKirk. "The team has been working so hard these past few weeks and it was great to see them get some results. We never stopped fighting and it was a total team effort for a win."

The Saints, now 1-10 overall and 1-7 in Liberty League play, will face the Golden Knights (10-4, 5-1 Liberty League) again in a conference doubleheader in Potsdam on Saturday.

Game 1: Clarkson 4, St. Lawrence 0

Zoeller threw a complete game one-hitter, striking out 18 and walking one, in a dominant performance in the circle for Clarkson. Hopper walked in the second at bat of the game for the Saints, but Zoeller retired the next 18 batters before Hein broke up the no-hitter with one out single in the seventh inning, hitting a soft line drive down the left field line.

Slater nearly matched Zoeller's performance with a career-high 11 strikeouts. She scattered five hits through six shutout innings, but the Clarkson lineup put together a few hits in the top of the seventh, eventually scoring four runs on Slater to make her the tough-luck loser in the pitcher's duel.

Rylee LeBourveau started the top of the seventh with a triple to right field, and later scored on a two-run double by Kayla Robert. Robert scored on an RBI single by Maddie Brink, and Sarah Vaccaro added an RBI single to account for the Clarkson runs.

Game 2: St. Lawrence 7, Clarkson 6

Trailing 6-2 after five innings, the Saints struck for five runs in the sixth to earn their first win of the season. 

St. Lawrence started the rally by loading the bases on base hits by Meredith Rose and Carolyn Holran and a walk by Slater. Tori Rotundo worked a bases loaded walk to cut the lead to three, and after a fielder's choice left the bases loaded with one out, Hopper roped a hard line drive that bounced to the centerfield fence for her first career double, scoring all three runners on base to tie the score, 6-6. 

Hein lined the very next pitch into the gap in left center for her sixth double of the season to give the Saints a 7-6 lead.

Clarkson took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI triple by Zoeller in the first inning, but St. Lawrence scored two runs in the third on an RBI double by McKailey Lyndaker and a sacrifice fly by Hein to take a 2-1 lead.

The Golden Knights, however, scored five runs in the fifth inning, to build a 6-2 lead. Bridget Twaits hit an BRI double, Brink added a two-run double, then Vaccaro added an RBI triple and later scored on a wild pitch.

Eight different players had a base hit for the Saints, led by Meredith Rose, who was 2-for-2 with a double. LeBourveau was 2-for-3 for Clarkson, while Twaits was 2-for-4.

McKailey Lyndaker started and pitched a total of 4.1 innings to earn the win, allowing two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Slater, who took the circle for the first time in the fifth inning and switched back and forth with Lyndaker from short stop to pitcher several times throughout the game, came back for the seventh inning to earn the save, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.

Clarkson starter Riley Page allowed six runs on seven hits with four walks and one strikeout in 5.1 innings. Emily McBath took the loss for the Golden Knights.