ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
The Lady Barons softball team split their April 18 doubleheader versus the Mt. Aloysius Mounties, winning the first game by a score of 4-3.
Senior Jordan Cunningham (5-7) started the first game for Franciscan and became the all-time winningest pitcher in the program’s history by securing her sixth career win. The win also pushed Franciscan to six wins in conference play, placing them in fifth place in the AMCC.
The Lady Barons struck first, scoring two runs in the second inning following a pair of hits and an error. With runners on first and second, centerfielder Lindsey Finch grounded a ball to Mounties second baseman Kate Little, who attempted to record the force out at second base but threw the ball into left field. Freshman Ashley Kondracki came around from second base to score the first run.
With left fielder Anna King batting next, second baseman Anna Fluharty stole third base and scored on a wild pitch by Mt. Aloysius pitcher Morgan Rackish.
Mt. Aloysius countered with a pair of runs of their own in the third inning after Courtney Link, who had reached first on a bunt single, scored on an error by Franciscan sophomore third base-man Anna Ames. Hannah Ruby, who reached base on the error, came around to score on an-other error, this one by the shortstop Dennise Carrazco, before Cunningham induced a groundout to end the inning.
Both sides scored one more run before Franciscan took the lead for good, after Cunningham singled in the bottom of the fifth, driving in the catcher, Kayla Anderson.
Freshman Jayln Effertz came in to pitch the last two innings in relief of Cunningham, limiting the Mounties to just one hit and sealing the win.
Mt. Aloysius came alive offensively in the second game of the doubleheader, slugging two home runs on their way to scoring seven runs. The Lady Barons scored four runs of their own, including two in the seventh, but were unable to complete their comeback.
Franciscan head coach Jim Walker felt that both games of the doubleheader were “two of our best games this year. The girls really played hard, and if it weren’t for some incredible plays by the other team, we probably would have won the second game.”
This split puts Franciscan’s record at 6-6 in the AMCC. With only six more conference games left in the season, Walker remains optimistic that the Lady Barons will be one of the six teams that advance to the conference tournament.
Franciscan’s next home game will be a doubleheader vs. conference opponent Penn State-Altoona on April 26, starting at 3:00 p.m.