STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—Franciscan University's Lady Baron softball team faced Chatham University in their first home doubleheader of the season. While fighting harsh winds and cold temperatures, the Lady Barons dropped the first game 11-3 and put together a late comeback that fell just short in the second game, losing 6-5.

Sophomore Mallori Linscomb started out game one with a bang as she jacked a three-run homerun to put Franciscan up 3-0 after one. However, the first inning was the only one in which the Lady Barons produced any offense.

“We started strong in the first game,” head coach Jennifer Parker said. “We were very enthusiastic over Mallori's homerun. But after that, the game started to go downhill and we let them have the advantage over us.”

Despite their early lead, defensive woes continued to be a thorn in the side of the Lady Barons as it has been thus far on the early season.

“Our errors are costing us our games,” Parker said. “Fielding errors and reaction errors need to be minimized. We know what to do, we just need to take the time to execute it.”

Despite a difficult first game, the Lady Barons adjusted to the bitter cold weather and tightened up their defense to come back to narrowly lose game two, 6-5.

“Our girls got their acts together in the second game,” Parker said. “We had much better communication and played solid up until the seventh inning.”

Down 3-0 in the bottom of the third, Franciscan's Hailey Wesselman doubled to center field, scoring Katrina Fabian and setting the tone for a later innings comeback.

“In the second game we began to play more cohesively,” Parker said. “We minimized our errors and played with more enthusiasm.”

After Franciscan's first run, Amanda Ruwart and Mallori Linscomb scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, making the score 6-3 in favor of Chatham.

“Although we caught up in the second game, we gave up a couple of runs that put Chatham ahead.” Parker said.

The score was 6-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, giving Franciscan one more opportunity to comeback. Wesselman started the inning with a single up the middle and that was followed by a Linscomb groundball which was fumbled by the second basemen.

The Lady Barons had  runners on first and second with nobody out when Ruwart jacked a pitch to deep left off the wall for an RBI double, making the score 6-4.  After a pop out, Catherine Durand walked to load the bases with one out. Elizabeth Knab then hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Linscomb from third. With two outs and runners on first and second, Eloise Rover hit a sharp grounder to first base, but it was fielded cleanly by the pitcher who threw her out at first to end the game.

“I really thought that we were going to pull it out in the second game,” Parker said. “But I am optimistic about our next game. The girls are so supportive and uplifting on and off the field. We have a long season ahead of us, and we want to build off of the errors we have made so far.”

The Lady Barons will be in action next against St. Vincent College at home on Saturday, March 23, at 1 and 3 p.m.