GREENSBURG, Pa.—Franciscan University women's softball team had a difficult day defensively and continued to search for consistency in their doubleheader loss 10-2 and 15-3 to the University of Pitt.-Greensburg.

Although they fell behind by three runs in the first inning of the first game, the Lady Barons had an exciting comeback in the second inning. After sophomore Iliana Gonzales and freshman Kristina Frandson found a way to get on base, they were brought in with a hit from sophomore Anne Pivarunas.

Greensburg scored one more run in the bottom of the second, bringing the score to 4-2. After a scoreless third, the fourth inning proved to be the green and gold's undoing as several errors allowed Greensburg four more runs.

"Take away the unearned runs and it's a pretty close game," head coach Jim Walker said of the team's defensive mistakes. "We've been doing a lot better, but today we just didn't make the plays behind Jordan that we should have made."

Meanwhile the Lady Barons had trouble on the mound as they tried to give their lone regular pitcher, sophomore Jordan Cunningham, a rest at the start of the second game in preparation for the week's full schedule. After Greensburg took advantage of the pitching adjustment to score nine runs in the first inning, the team was forced to put Cunningham back in for the rest of the game.

Walker said that while relying on one pitcher was a strain, the young team which fields eight freshman, fell behind in both games due to lack of experience.

"The last few games, I feel like we've been just as good as them. The thing is, these kids are fine tuning the game they've been playing for the last 12 years and our team's just still learning really how to play the game," Walker said. "We're learning each game. Sometimes they're just tough lessons to learn."

Walker added that he sees his players capable of making good plays but that consistency is key.

"We'll have lapses where we make one error and it seems like when we make one, we end up making two, then three, then four just because we don't know how as a team to pull ourselves out of that yet," Walker said. "That comes from being really young. We're a work in progress."

Another area in need of consistency is batting. While Walker said several new players have been getting comfortable hitting and getting on base, more seasoned players have descended into an offensive drought.

"The only consistency is that Hailey has been hitting all year," Walker said of Wesselman, the team captain who tallied up three hits and one RBI in the two games.

With six conference games left in their schedule, Walker said that the team is focused on finding that consistency before the end of the season.

"I told the girls, looking at some of the teams that we play, I think there's actually some very winnable games in the near future, if we start making the plays we've been working on all year and not giving teams extra outs," Walker said. "We've just got to get back on the practice field, work on doing things right every time out and taking that into the game."

The team's next chance to fix some of those mistakes will be on the road against Pitt.-Bradford on April 18 at 4:30pm and 6:30pm.