SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Marissa Jensen homered in each of the fifth and seventh innings, freshman Elizabeth Bettar hit 3-for-4 with a double and her first prep homer, and three Troubadours made their pitching debuts, but St. Francis could not erase an early deficit in falling to Folsom, 12-8, in Sierra Foothill League varsity softball action at Schuster Field Friday.

The Troubies drop their fourth straight game to fall to 9-11 for the year with a 3-6 league record. The Bulldogs improve to 5-12 overall with a 2-7 SFL mark.

The setback also continued a streak in which St. Francis lost a game despite more hits than its opponent. Besides Jensen and Bettar, catcher Chloe Hoertsch finished 3-for-4 with an RBI while Jocelyn Villaflor and Reese Lewis each had two hits for the game. Julia Nielsen doubled and drove in a run to round out a 13-hit onslaught at the plate. Unfortunately, the Troubies also committed six total errors, resulting in six unearned Folsom runs to come across.

St. Francis faced a challenge even before the lineup cards were filled out, with numerous players – including two pitchers – unavailable either due to injury or absence. This meant Lewis started in the circle, despite just 10.1 prior innings in four appearances this season. When the Bulldogs unloaded for three runs in the first and were already underway toward what became a second three-run rally, senior shortstop Isabella Barge took over.

Barge finished the second, and remained in the circle into the seventh despite not having a full warm-up upon replacing Lewis. Additionally, Lewis was no longer available to re-enter at pitcher, as she was replaced by pinch runner Ava Bernel on both of her hits. Thus Villaflor came in to face one batter in the seventh, then Bettar stepped in to finish. Bettar allowed an RBI single by Folsom senior Raygan Mercado, but then recorded three straight infield outs: a pop-up to Barge, a second pop fly to herself, then a comebacker resulting in a 1-3 putout at first.

Barge, Villaflor and Bettar have not previously pitched for St. Francis. Among the available players, only Jensen and Leavitt had previously pitched in a Troubie uniform, albeit for the junior varsity program back in 2023.

Folsom never actually trailed in the contest, plating eight runs by the fourth before Hoertsch's RBI single and Nielsen's bases-loaded walk got the Troubies on the board. Bettar, Lewis and Villaflor each collected hits to set up the frame.

The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the fifth to extend their lead to 9-2 before Jensen's first blast more than offset the run. Lewis reached on an infield single, then Jensen went opposite field on the next pitch, cutting the margin to 9-4. Barge held Folsom scoreless in the sixth, setting the stage for another SF rally. Hoertsch led off with a liner to center, Nielsen drove a double to the gap in right center, then Alexis McFarland lifted a sacrifice fly to bring in Hoertsch.

With two out and Nielsen still on second, Bettar launched a slicing fly ball just slightly right of center for her first home run as a Troubie. Mercado got out of the jam on the next batter, but St. Francis had narrowed the gap such that the potential equalizer would be on deck in the seventh. Unfortunately for the Troubies, Folsom tacked on three insurance runs against the committee of pitchers in the top of the seventh.

Jensen led off the seventh with her second home run, this time to the modular classroom buildings in right. Barge followed with a hard liner that went straight to Bulldog center fielder Faith Best, but Villaflor and Hoertsch followed with hits, turning each of the next SF batters into potential tying runs. Folsom Brooklyn Jackson retired the final two Troubies in order to complete the win.

Jensen became the first Troubadour to hit two homers in a game since Grace Jenkins achieved that feat twice in May of 2022. The three bombs by the team marked the most for St. Francis since March 11 of that same 2022 season, when Grace Jenkins, Hope Jenkins and Kayla Garber each went deep against River City.

The Troubies return to action – weather permitting – at home against Granite Bay on Wednesday. First pitch is 4:30 p.m. at Schuster Field.