STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan softball team split an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference doubleheader with Medaille, Saturday afternoon. The Lady Barons won the nightcap 7-2 after dropping the first game 4-2.

The Lady Barons found themselves trailing 1-0 after the top of the first inning. After sophomore Kathleen Thompson reached first on a Medaille error, she promptly stole second and third to get in scoring position. Freshman Allyson Weiss hot a hard grounder to second, and while getting out, allowed Thompson to cross the plate and tie the game at 1-1.

Both teams were held scoreless through the top of the fourth before the Lady Barons took their first lead of the game. With two outs and a runner on second, sophomore Kayla Anderson reached on an error by the first baseman and sophomore Anna Fluharty scored. The Mavericks were able to get the run back in the top of the fifth to retie the game, but Franciscan took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of runs.

Senior Lindsey Finch led off the frame with a bunt single. After sophomore Dennise Carrazco was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, Thompson moved both runners into scoring position with a groundout. Weiss singled through the left side to bring both runners home and give Franciscan the lead.

Kuntz held the Mavericks scoreless over the final two innings as the Lady Barons tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Ashley Kondracki led off the inning with a double to right before Anderson reached on a walk. Junior Anna Ames singled to load the bases. Finch hit a fly ball just out the reach of the Medaille center fielder to keep the bases loaded and bring Kondracki home. Sophomore Jayln Effertz followed up with a sacrifice fly to right to score Anderson. With a base open, Finch stole second and Ames stole third before Carrazco grounded out to third to score Ames and give Franciscan a 7-2 lead.

Kuntz set the Mavericks down in order in the seventh to seal the win for Franciscan.

The Lady Barons opened the doubleheader with a close 4-2 loss after the Mavericks scored a run in the top of the sixth and seventh.

The Mavericks got on the board first with a run in the top of the first before pushing their lead to 2-0 in the top of the third. Franciscan got on the board in the bottom of the fifth as Thompson reached first on an error by the left fielder and advanced to second, scoring Finch and Ames to tie the game at 2-2.

Medaille took the lead for good on a passed ball with runners on second and third in the top of the sixth and added an insurance run with an RBI single in the top of the seventh.

Effertz led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple down the right-field line but an overslide and a perfectly timed throw from the right fielder erased the extra base hit. The Mavericks got their final two outs to hold on to the win.

Franciscan looks to secure a place in the 2018 AMCC tournament as the Lady Barons host Pitt.-Bradford tomorrow for a 3:00 pm doubleheader.