Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The SUNY Potsdam softball team returned from a nearly month-long layoff Saturday, splitting a pair of games at North Country rival St. Lawrence in a non-conference doubleheader at Canton, N.Y.

The Bears (6-6 overall) won Game 1 by a 4-3 count in eight innings before being edged 6-5 in the second contest.

“We battled today,” Potsdam coach Shannon Dillabough said. “We didn't give up, and we didn't quit. We're learning how to win. With our offense, we're never out of it. Even in the second game, we put ourselves in position to win or tie the game, and that's all you can ask for.”

In the first game, Potsdam tied the game in the top of the sixth inning and scored twice in the top of the eighth thanks to run-scoring singles by freshman Molly Zehler (Penfield, N.Y.) and sophomore Heather Johnson (Heuvelton, N.Y.).

Clinging to a 4-3 lead with a runner on third and two outs, freshman pitcher Ashley Thayer (Winthrop, N.Y.) struck out the leadoff hitter for St. Lawrence (8-8) to end the contest. Thayer went the distance, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out nine to pick up her team-leading fourth victory of the year.

“Ashley worked out of a lot of jams and our defense did a good job of staying calm and making plays,” Dillabough said. “We got some key hits in the eighth inning and left a runner stranded at third in the bottom half.”

Johnson paced the offense with three hits and three RBIs, while Zehler finished with a hit, two runs scored and an RBI. Five other Potsdam hitters posted at least one hit in the contest.

In Game 2, the Bears nearly came back in the top of the seventh, turning a 6-3 deficit into a one-run game before the final out was recorded with a runner on third base.

Thayer, senior Jessica Brower (Staten Island, N.Y.) and junior Brittany Pawlowski (West Seneca, N.Y.) posted two hits apiece to lead Potsdam, which committed six errors in the game. Freshman Megan Johnson (Heuvelton, N.Y.) added two RBIs.

Pawlowski (2-3) took the loss on the mound, pitching 5 1/3 innings. Junior Katie Nawrot (Buffalo, N.Y.) recorded the last two outs in the sixth.

Potsdam returns to play tomorrow against Plattsburgh in its 2011 home and State University of New York Athletic Conference opener. The twin bill begins at 1 p.m. at Maxcy Hall.