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Rensselaer, Ind. - Both the Lewis University and Saint Joseph's softball teams were the beneficiaries of clutch hitting on Friday (March 29) afternoon, as the Flyers and Pumas battled to a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader split. Lewis used a Jessica Rourke (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) grand slam in the opener to earn the 6-1 win, while the Pumas drove in two runs on sacrifice flies on their way to the 2-0 victory in the nightcap.

With the split, Lewis is now 8-6 overall and 5-1 in GLVC action, while the host Pumas move to 12-5 on the campaign and 4-5 in conference play.

Rourke provided the Flyers with all the offense that they needed in game one, as she uncorked a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning to extend Lewis' lead to 6-0. The Flyers also received RBI from senior outfielders Lauren Hanford (Morris, Ill./Morris) (Morris, Ill./Morris) and Jayme Hefler (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West).

Lewis sophomore pitcher Kelly Bowler (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) earned her second-straight win in as many starts to improve to 5-3 on the campaign. Bowler scattered six hits over seven innings, allowing one run and striking out one.

Her counterpart Megan Ramey (5-2) was tagged with the loss, as she allowed four hits and five runs in 3.2 innings of work while walking five batters. Walks proved to be the downfall for the Pumas as four of Ramey's free passes came around to score.

In the nightcap, the Pumas were only able to manage four hits off of Lewis starting pitcher Ali Brems (Kenosha, Wis./Harborside) (Kenosha, Wis./Harborside). Two of those hits, however, played a role in the Flyers' demise.

In the fourth inning, SJC junior third baseman Shawn Hoskins doubled off of Brems to open the inning. She moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly from sophomore second baseman Stephanie Winter to give the Pumas the 1-0 advantage.

The Pumas would tack on an insurance run in the fifth inning, as freshman shortstop Kylie Hirchak led off with a triple and scored on another sacrifice fly by senior center fielder Kristin Paris.

Brems (3-3) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings of work while striking out two batters. Saint Joseph's starting pitcher Sarah Franklin (5-2) garnered the complete-game, three-hit shutout while striking out five batters. This is the second-straight season that Franklin has blanked the Flyers.

"Our goal is always to win both games, but I'm very satisfied to come away with a road split against a very good Saint Joseph's team," Lewis head softball coach George DiMatteo said. "We played a really good game one, but Franklin shut us down again in game two. She kept the ball down low and we hit into two double plays.

"It was one of those, whoever scores first, wins kind of games."

Lewis returns to action on Saturday (March 30) as the Flyers take on No. 2 Indianapolis for a 12 PM (ET) doubleheader.