STAUTON, Va. - The Lady Barons softball team finished out their weekend play by falling to the Fighting Squirrels 10-2 in both games on Sunday. 

"The score wasn't what we wanted of course and we are never satisfied with 0-4 start to the season, but we saw what we need to work on," commented head coach James Walker. 

The Lady Barons struggled with stopping the opponent from scoring in two out situations. In the first game the Fighting Squirrels scored five runs when there were two outs on the board and three in the second game of the day. "Getting more consistent, we need to make every play defensively," was Coach Walker's statement in regards to these two out rallies.

This young team at times hosted an infield consisting entirely of freshman and sophomores.  With this weekend being the first time the team has stepped foot on a field this season, the younger players were able to see how college softball is played.  Coach Walker's advice is to not get frustrated with a 0-4 start, but to keep improving with every game which they have done. 

On the offensive side of play, a few players had some solid games at the plate. In the first game, Lindsay Finch went 2-for-2, and Anna Ames hit 2-for-3. "It's good to get progression out of the top of the line-up, now the rest of the bats need to follow." Ames in the second game went one for three with an RBI and Caroline Durand got hits two out of the three times she was up to bat. "Durand played well both games, she has been the most consistent hitter starting this season."

In the first game of the day, the Lady Barons came out strong when Finch scored on a double by Theresa Wood with a shot to left field. Mary Baldwin responded to the Lady Barons run when they took the plate with two runs of their own scored by Chrissy Chromer and Kayla Wheeler. The third inning wielded four more runs by the Fighting Squirrels, advancing their lead to five.

Iliana Gonzales answered Mary Baldwin's big inning, with an RBI in the top of the fourth, scoring Jordan Cunningham. This was all the scoring the Lady Barons could muster up, ending the game with two runs. Mary Baldwin finished out the game with four more runs, sealing the 10-2 win.

The second game fared no better for the Lady Barons with the same scoring outcome being repeated from the first game. Down 0-6 going into the fourth, the team scraped up two runs.  Jordan Cunningham crossed the plate on an error by Mary Baldwin's pitcher Kayla Wheeler, who fielded Anna King's connection with the ball. King eventually made the full circle around the diamond scoring when Wheeler made another error on Cecilia Lademan's unearned hit. The Lady Barons were unable to keep up their momentum, and closed out another game with two runs in the books.

Franiscan takes a short break and will return to the diamond as the Lady Barons head to Myrtle Beach, SC for their annual spring break trip. FUS opens the week against Summit (Pa.) on March 7.