FORT MYERS, FL – Senior Madison Joseph hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning against SUNY Canton and fellow senior Marissa Tortora went 3-for-4 with a run and a run batted in against Blackburn College as the Nazareth College softball team scored a pair of one-run victories Tuesday on day three of the annual Florida Spring Training trip.

The Golden Flyers (3-3) downed SUNY Canton (1-4) 3-2 and held on for a 6-5 victory over Blackburn (3-5). The win over Canton to start the day was also the 300th career coaching victory for head coach Jack Carpenter.

Against Canton, Nazareth took an early lead as sophomore Katie Ruoff doubled in the second inning to score junior Kristen Simmons who was hit by pitch to start the inning, stole second to move into scoring position and took third on a wild pitch.

Canton answered in the third with a single run to tie the game and took a 2-1 lead with another run in the fifth.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, sophomore Janelle Walters singled to start the inning and then stole second base. Later in the inning, with two outs, Joseph sent a 1-1 pitch over the center field fence to give the Golden Flyers the 3-2 lead.

Freshman Shannon Gallagher started the game for Nazareth and after two innings of work, was relieved by Gabriella Corasaniti who finished the game to earn her first win of the season as she struck out six batters over the final five innings.

In game two, Nazareth batters combined for 11 hits – all singles – and scored three runs in each of the first two innings before holding on for the 6-5 victory.

Tortora led the team with three hits while Walters and junior Kylie Smith chipped in two hits each for the Nazareth offense.

In the bottom of the first, Walters singled, sophomore Marissa Drees walked and Tortora belted a line drive off the pitch for a single to load the bases. With one out, Kristen Simmons forced a run home with a ground out to the right side of the infield and her sister Sarah Simmons followed with a two-run single for the early 3-1 lead.

Nazareth tacked on three more runs in the second inning as Smith and sophomore Mackenzie Kapp started the inning with singles before Drees singled to score Smith. Tortora singled to score another run and Kristen Simmons capped the scoring with a single down the line to score Drees and give the Golden Flyers a 6-1 edge.

Blackburn battled back with three runs in the fourth. The Beavers scored again in the fifth and had bases loaded before freshman Maddie Funk came in to pitch and induced a pair of outs on three pitches to stop the rally.

Funk did not allow a runner past first for the final two innings to record the save. Smith picked up the pitching victory with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Nazareth has the day off Wednesday and returns to action Thursday with games against Lesley University and New Jersey City University in Naples.