PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A late rally in their second game of a double header, didn't last long enough to bring Lady Baron softball their second win of the season. A slow first inning against Chatham University, led to a 9-0 loss while a three-run seventh inning couldn't get FUS the lead in a 7-4 loss.

Down 7-1, the Lady Barons got its biggest play of the day from senior left fielder Rosemary Cassidy as the team captain stretched what started as a single into an inside-the-park homerun.

The hit also drove in freshman centerfielder Iliana Gonzalez, who had her best hitting performance of the season, and gave Franciscan hope for a miraculous comeback.

"It was so exciting that I forgot we were in the seventh inning," head coach Jen Parker said. "But we need to start those kinds of performances in the second and third inning instead of the seventh inning."

While Cassidy provided the bulk of the rally it was Gonzalez who started it with an RBI single that brought junior second baseman, Katrina Fabian home.

Gonzalez's RBI capped off a banner day for the freshman, who went 1 for 2 in the first game and 2 for 3 in the second game. Her fifth inning single in the game one was her first hit of the season.

"Iliana Gonzalez had three really solid hits tonight," Parker said. "She had been struggling for awhile but she got on base a good bit. I was happy to see that performance."

Another positive showing came from sophomore pitcher Eloise Rover who recovered from a rough outing the day before with her best pitched game of the season. Rover struck out three Cougar batters and only walked two in five innings, both numbers her best of the year.

"She made great improvements today," Parker said about her pitcher, in just her third game of the year. "She pitched a really solid game."

Parker said that her team's biggest problem wasn't pitching or hitting, but fielding errors particularly in the first inning of the first game.

Franciscan committed three errors in that inning, resulting in five Cougar runs, and FUS finished the game with five total errors. The game continued a growing trend of slow starts for the Lady Barons.

"It's the errors. They know they need to minimize them but we just aren't doing it," Parker said. "It takes them awhile to get fired up and it's always too little too late."

The Lady Baron's will have a chance to get fired up from the opening pitch during their second home double-header of the season. The team hosts conference opponent Medaille College at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 30.