CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Marist softball team suffered a 6-3 loss to Delaware State on Friday in its first game at the University of Virginia Tournament.

Delaware State outhit Marist 10-7, as seven Red Foxes had one single apiece. Sophomore catcher Rebecca Freeman (Robbinsville, N.J.) went 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI. Junior center fielder Colleen McWilliams (Monrovia, Calif.) was 1-for-2 with an RBI, stolen base, walk and sacrifice fly.

Delaware State catcher Sandy Hawthorne homered in the top of the first to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead. The score remained that way until the fifth, when right fielder Nkili Matthews led off with a triple and scored on an infield groundout by Hawthorne. However, Marist cut its deficit back to one in the bottom of the inning. Junior first baseman Maureen Duddy (San Mateo, Calif.) led off with a walk, and came home on a one-out single by Freeman.

The score remained 2-1 until Delaware State scored four on four hits in the seventh. Second baseman Danielle Velez had a two-run single in the inning.

Marist then fought back in its final at-bat. Sophomore right fielder Janna Korak (Huntsville, Ala.) and Freeman drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. A one-out single by junior shortstop Kyrsten Van Natta (Maplewood, N.J.) plated Korak, and McWilliams followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home freshman pinch-runner Gabrielle Kelliher (East Brunswick, N.J.) to make the score 6-3. Marist then loaded the bases to bring the winning run to the plate, but an infield groundout ended the game.

Jessica Shalongo (1-3) went six-plus innings to earn the win for Delaware State. Shalongo gave up five hits and struck out three. Sophomore Jayne Oberdorf (Greensburg, Pa.) took the loss for the Red Foxes and is now 3-4. Oberdorf went six-plus innings, and struck out six.

Delaware State (4-13) and Marist (8-11) will again meet in tournament play on Saturday at noon. The Red Foxes will then play host Virginia in their second game on Saturday, which will start at 5 p.m.