STEUBENVILLE—It was softball's home opener Thursday afternoon as Franciscan University's Lady Baron softball team took on the St. Vincent College Lady Bearcats. The Lady Barons weren't able to christen their new field with a win, dropping 9-0 in both games of the doubleheader. Franciscan stands 1-7 on the season.

"It was tough, but we're getting better," said head coach Terry Leighty. "By the end of the season, our improvement will really show. We've been through a lot of changes, but hopefully by the middle of the season things will settle down and we'll be even better."

The Lady Barons started off slow for their first game. Getting behind by nine runs in the first two innings, Franciscan was never able to recover offensively for the final three innings. "The girls made some good plays on the infield," Leighty noted. "The scores don't indicate how close the games really were."

The second game of the evening started off much more positively than the first. At the top of the first, the Lady Barons did not allow any hits or runs from the Lady Bearcats. Scoring runs themselves, however, proved to be just as difficult. Brianna Antrim and Emily Whiteside earned the only two Lady Baron hits totaled in the second game. Freshman Erin Gulick stepped up with a quick infield glove for a stronger, second game defense.

The highlight of the afternoon was a Lady Baron double play. A quick arm by shortstop Rebecca Peters to first baseman Cathy Durand, then down the line to catcher Antrim tagged out Lady Bearcats Leanna Seminsky and Kerstin Makowski.

"We're not discouraged at all," Coach Leighty affirmed. "I was surprised we didn't hit better, but we're working on it. As long as we learn something, we're going to get better."

The Lady Barons host a second doubleheader this Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. as they take on conference foe Penn State-Behrend.