North Dakota Blanks Franklin Pierce in Season Opener, 6-0
Petersen pitches three-hit shutout for her first collegiate win

FORT MYERS, FLA. (March 15, 2003) - The Franklin Pierce University
softball team opened up the regular season with a 6-0 shutout loss to the University of North Dakota, in game one of the 2003 Gene Cusic Classic in non-conference softball action this afternoon.

Freshman Tara Petersen pitched a three-hit shutout to lead the Fighting Sioux, as she allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out nine batters for her first win of the season.

The North Dakota offense was led by freshman Terisa Syvertsen, who finished hitting 1-3, including a double, and posted two RBIs.

Franklin Pierce senior Julie Haight (Fort Montgomery, N.Y./O'Neill) went 1-3 with a triple.

The teams were held scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Syvertsen knocked a two-run double to put the Fighting Sioux up by two runs. Classmate Nikki Smith helped North Dakota take the three-run advantage moments later when she singled in Syvertsen to close out the fourth.

The Fighting Sioux continued to take advantage of starting pitcher, Amy Torla (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) as senior Jennifer Soderquist led off the fifth with a triple and was later knocked in by sophomore Kelsey Oie. North Dakota went on to score two more runs off of two Franklin Pierce errors to make the score 6-0 heading into the top of the sixth.

Torla allowed four earned runs on ten hits, walked two and struck out two in five innings of work for the loss. Sophomore Christine Boutiette (Cumberland, R.I./Cumberland) registered two walks and one strike out in one inning of relief for the Ravens.

FP
(0-1, 0-0 NE-10) returns to action tomorrow morning when it faces New York University at 9 a.m. and top-ranked Armstrong Atlantic at 11 a.m. in non-conference doubleheader softball action on day two of the 2003 Gene Cusic Classic.

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
FP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
UND	0	0	0	3	3	0	x	6	10	0

BOX SCORE

Battery
FPC: Amy Torla and Julie Haight
UND: Tara Petersen and Karen Crane

WP: Petersen (1-0)
LP: Torla (0-1)