CLERMONT, Fla. – The Franciscan University Lady Barons continued their spring break training in Clermont, Florida with a double header loss to Monmouth College (10-1) and St. Paul University of Northwestern (25-9.)

Despite communication struggles in the first game against Monmouth College, the Lady Barons' pitching was a bright spot. First-season Lady Baron pitcher Ashley Ruttencutter struck out two girls, letting up only four runs in five innings. Junior first baseman Michele Volk scored the only run of the game with a home run in the fifth inning.

"We had higher expectations for this game than the way we performed," Head Coach Jen Parker said. "It was a tough game for us all the way around. We weren't making the kind of plays we needed to make to hold them off."

In the second game against St. Paul University of Northwestern, the Lady Baron performed significantly better offensively, scoring nine runs, the highest total of their young season.

"We didn't start out very strong in our second game," Parker said. "But we pulled it together later in the game. If we had played the whole game like we did the last couple of innings, we would have had a shot at winning."

Junior second baseman Katrina Fabian and freshman catcher Kim Muscat both scored two runs, and senior second baseman Rosemary Cassidy also contributed a run. Junior Mallori Linscomb hit an RBI to round out the game.

"It's starting to come together," Parker said. "I was proud of their performances this afternoon. It's easy to get disenchanted in softball when you come off a hard loss your first game and then come into your second game and struggle, but they worked hard and it showed with their runs."

The Lady Barons also showed improvements in their pitching, with Ruttencutter starting the game and freshman Serra Alongi wrapping up the final stretch. Both Lady Barons are new pitchers, having never played the position at the collegiate level before the week started.

"We have two girls pitching who have never pitched before." Parker said. "I can't say anything negative about them. With only two, we're limited so they have to work very hard. They're working their butts off."

Parker added that, despite the double loss, the Lady Barons are starting to come together as a team and that she is happy with how the team has handled the adversity and tough competition of spring training.

"I am very proud of the girls and how hard they've worked and the fact that they're not giving up." Parker said. "It's easy to get disheartened when you're not playing to the level that you should be, but they've been working very hard and that determination and drive is going to pay off."

Franciscan will continue its spring training trip with another double header on March 13, playing Anna Maria at 9 a.m. and Stevenson at 11 a.m.