STEUBENVILLE—Franciscan University's Lady Baron softball team opened up Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play on Saturday in a doubleheader versus the Lions of Penn State Behrend. The Lady Barons struggled initially, dropping game one 10-2, but showed vast improvement in an exciting second game before surrendering 11-7. Franciscan's record now settles at 1-9 (0-2) on the season.
The game was originally slated to be played at Penn State Behrend but was moved to Steubenville due to the weather conditions in Erie, Pa.
"I'm encouraged," said head coach Terry Leighty. "That was an exciting second game we had. The girls were enthusiastic and really pumped up. You could feel it. It could have been so easy to give up after the first game, yet our girls never did. I'm most proud of them today for not giving up."
Lara Plumlee shouldered the responsibility on the mound for Franciscan, pitching complete games in both contests.
"Lara's a fighter," said Leighty. "She doesn't give up easily. And she comes out and gives it her all every game."
Offensively for the Barons, Amanda Ruwart and Erin Gulick each went 1-1 with an RBI for the only two Franciscan runs of game one. Plumlee gave up six earned runs and had one strikeout.
In game two the Lady Barons struggled out of the gate giving up seven runs in the first two innings. But the dormant bats came alive as Franciscan exploded for six runs off of five hits in the top of the fourth inning to close the gap at 11-6. Plumlee helped her cause on the mound by going 2-4 with two RBIs at the plate. Rebecca Peters also had two RBIs of her own. Emily Whiteside and Cathy Durand also went 2-4 with an RBI apiece, while Megan Milstead and Bridget Cooke drove in the remaining runs. The Lady Barons grabbed one more run in the sixth to finalize the score 11-7.
"We worked on our hitting all day in practice, and it was very obvious in that game," noted Leighty. "We are young and there's room for improvement. But these girls are starting to believe, and I think that we're going to do some things this season."
Franciscan hosts another doubleheader this Wednesday against conference foe the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Last season, the Lady Barons split the season contest with the Panthers for one of their two conference wins on the year. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
