STEUBENVILLE, Oh. —The Lady Barons made improvements on both ends of the ball, but could not do enough, in tough losses to Bethany College, 7-3 and 18-6. Franciscan University finished off their last home game, paying tribute to their three seniors: third baseman Mallori Linscomb, outfielder Rosemary Cassidy, and outfielder Allison White.

Game one of the doubleheader saw the Lady Barons go the full seven innings, in big part due to the pitching of junior, Ashley Ruttencutter and a two RBI single from Linscomb. Ruttencutter had one strike out and kept the runs down for Franciscan.

"Ashley pitched a heck of a game," head coach Jen Parker said of Ruttencutter who rebounded from a few rough outings in the last few weeks.

Helping Ruttencutter with run support and her best defensive game of the season was right fielder Caitlyn Fodor. The freshman came out of her shell, getting on base during all three of her at bats and scoring the Lady Baron's first run of the game.

"She was great in the batter's box and she did great fielding," Parker said. "She played a great game and came through for us in a couple of key instances."

Despite the fact that the Lady Barons are nearing the end of their season, Parker said that she is finally seeing some of the results of things the team has been working on all season.

"Some of those things we've been struggling with, they're starting to come together now," Parker said. "Granted it's the end of the season, but I feel like we're turning a corner."

Parker said she had been waiting for this moment, and that today they did well in the batters box and watching the base coaches. Parker added that the most improved part of her team's play was their communication.

"Communication on the field today was great," Parker said. "I can't ask for anything more than that. They called each other off, they told each other who needed to get the ball when they need to, and it was great communication."

Game two started off strong with the Lady Barons taking the lead in the first inning. Parker said that she was pleased with the way freshman Serra Alongi and sophomore Eloise Rover, who split the pitching duties, performed.

In the bottom of the fourth, with freshman Kim Muscat and junior Katrina Fabian on base, freshman Illiana Gonzales hit a double, bringing both runners home. The senior captain Cassidy then drove Illiana in, and immediately after, junior Michele Volk hit Rosemary in, resulting in four run inning for FUS.

Parker said that ultimately the difference maker was the errors that her team committed down the stretch that cost them a number of runs.

One of the three seniors being honored this afternoon was Linscomb, who once again stepped up and made some big plays with both her bat and her glove. On top of her two RBI hit, Linscomb forced all three fourth inning outs for the Lady Barons in game 1.

"She had a great hit to bring our runners around," Parker said. "She was great all around tonight."

The Franciscan University woman's softball team will head north for their season finale at Hilbert College on April 26, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.