CLERMONT, Fla. - Franciscan University Lady Baron's softball team faced Becker College and St. Lawrence University in their first games of the season, as part of a week-long spring break trip to Florida. FUS fell to both challengers, losing to Becker 24-4 and St. Lawrence 16-1.

Becker and St. Lawrence were playing their fourth and sixth games of the season respectively while the Lady Barons were not only playing games for the first time of the season, they were also playing and practicing outside for the first time.

"Just being able to practice outside and practice on a field when we get back home will be helpful to us," head coach Jen Parker said about her team that had to practice indoors all preseason due to inclimate weather. "This is our first time on a field all year and it was great."

While Franciscan struggled to keep up with Becker in the first game, Parker said she was happy with how her team performed in their first at-bats of the season as they scored three runs in the first inning.

"We were very aggressive in the batter's box. We got some people on base with some really aggressive base running and we were able to score some runs," Parker said. "The top of our line-up looked great. They scored three runs and all of our batters got on."

Rose Cassidy, Becca Peters and Mallori Linscomb were the three Lady Barons to score during the team's first inning of the season.

After their strong opening inning and scoreless second inning however, Becker's offense pulled away from FUS. Despite the final score, Parker was impressed with the offense in their first game of the season and even more pleased with how the team played overall against St. Lawrence.

"There was a vast improvement between the first and the second game," Parker said. "Defensively they played better. They held the runs down compared to the first game, communicating a little better."

Franciscan made a number of encouraging defensive plays in the second game, recovering from some missed opportunities earlier.

"Amanda Ruwart made a fabulous play from center field, threw a runner out at home to Mallori Linscomb to save a run," Parker said. "It was just an amazing play after a couple problems and she came right back and nailed it."

With these games being the first time the Lady Barons played on a field all year, Parker said she is excited to move forward with the season, especially with the team functioning so well together.

"They maintained a positive attitude through the whole game and that says a lot about our team as a team," Parker said.

FUS will continue their schedule in Florida with two afternoon games on Tuesday March 12 against Becker College at 1 pm and Haverford College at 3 pm.