STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Franciscan softball had a strong start in the first three innings of each game against La Roche but were unable to keep up the intensity in the 9-1 and 23-2 losses.

"Those were probably the three best innings we've played all year defensively," head coach James Walker said. "I thought we played them pretty tough for three innings and then the fourth inning, we just couldn't get outs."

Sophomore pitcher Jordan Cunningham started out the first game by recording eight straight outs before allowing a baserunner, holding the Redhawks scoreless until they erupted for six runs in the top of the fourth.

"I thought we were going to be able to build on that but they started hitting the ball pretty hard against us and we just couldn't find a way to get them out in that one inning," Walker said. "Same thing happened really in the second game too."

The one bright spot offensively for the Lady Barons in the first game came in the bottom of the fifth when they scored their only run.

Freshman Anne Pivarunas singled and then advanced to second base on Shannon Sommers walk. The next batter, senior captain Hailey Wesselman, roped a single into left field that scored Pivarunas.

The Lady Barons continued to swing the bat well in the beginning of the second game, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first for a 2-2 tie off Cunningham's first home run of the season.

"That was really exciting for her," Walker said. "Hopefully it will help springboard her into hitting a little better on the weekend because those are definitely two games we'd like to win."

The second game also saw offensive production from freshman Kristina Frandson and sophomore Iliana Gonzales with the two of them combining for five hits, including a double from Gonzales.

Walker said that he was pleased to see the team extending the lineup a little bit with more hits coming from the middle to bottom part of the order.

"In the beginning of the season, we had one, two, maybe three kids hit during a game," Walker said. "Now when you have six or seven kids hitting, it makes it a lot tougher on the other team's pitcher instead of just breezing through the bottom half of the order. Hopefully that will translate into a few more runs as we finish up the season."

As the season wraps up, Walker said that the team will continue to focus on getting better fundamentally with each of the four remaining games.

"Obviously, it's not translating on the scoreboard and sometimes the scores get out of hand but I do feel like every game out we've gotten better at something," Walker said. "That's really been the key this year, make sure we're getting better and playing hard."

The Lady Barons will wrap up conference play at home with a doubleheader against Hilbert College on Senior Day, April 25, at 1 and 3 pm.