FLORENCE, S.C. - The West Liberty University softball team lost a pair of games Sunday afternoon in South Carolina to the host Francis Marion, 5-1, and 3-1 in a neutral site battle against Bloomsburg.

Game 1: West Liberty (1) - Francis Marion (5)
The Hilltopper offense was shut down and the Patriots scored runs in each of the first four innings to take the opening game in South Carolina.

Francis Marion scored one in the first, second, and fourth innings, while belting a two-run homer in the third. In the bottom of the first, FMU led off with a triple and came home to score. Then, the Patriots manufactured their second inning run off a sac fly and ran a first-and-third play to plate the fifth run in the bottom half of the fourth.

West Liberty scattered three hits in the game, all coming in separate innings. Jairika Baylor drove home the only run with a one-out sac fly in the seventh scoring Anna Welsh, who was plunked in her pinch-hit. Kylie Imes, the second pinch hitter of the inning for the Black and Gold, ripped a single off the first baseman and Welsh raced to third to set up the sac fly situation.

Jaden Conrad went 1-for-2 with a walk in the leadoff spot, while four hitter Savannah Holbrook tallied the other hit for WLU in the first inning and finished 1-for-3.

Ryleigh Morgan got the loss in the circle in her first start for the Hilltoppers. Madison Angus threw the final two innings and sat down all six batters she faced with one strikeout.  

Game 2: Bloomsburg (3) - West Liberty (1)
West Liberty was held quiet offensively again mustering one unearned run on a sac fly in the third inning. 

Bloomsburg struck first taking advantage of a one-out error plating two unearned runs in the second inning. Sydney Johnson prevented the leadoff batter from extra bases with a running grab on the warning track in left field, but the Huskies came back with a double, hit by pitch, reach on error, and steal of home to produce the two runs.

Kayla Mancusco drove in the lone run of the game for the Hilltoppers in the top of the third on a sac fly getting them quickly back within a run. Jairika Baylor, who led the inning off with a single, advanced to third off a walk and errant pick off attempt by the Huskies before crossing the plate on the Mancusco sac fly to center field.

Bloomsburg added an insurance run in the fifth with a one-out home run down the left field line to take a 3-1 lead.

The Hilltoppers were held off the base paths in innings 4-6. They were able to get the tying run on and the go ahead run to the plate in the seventh, but could not capitalize.

Baylor's third inning single was the lone hit of the game for WLU, she finished 1-for-3.

Ashlyn Tapman started and went 5 innings in the circle. She surrendered just one earned run and struck out three, but was dealt the tough-luck loss. Leah Alford finished the game throwing a three-up, three-down sixth inning.

Up Next
West Liberty will square off against the same two opponents tomorrow in Florence. This time Bloomsburg is first on the docket at 1:30 pm and Francis Marion will battle the Black and Gold right after at 4 pm.

Follow West Liberty Softball online all season at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Softball & @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_softball & @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.