WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Two seventh-inning rallies from Grace's softball team came up short on Friday as St. Francis swept the doubleheader.

The Lady Lancers (19-16, 12-10 Crossroads League) fell 7-6 in both games at Miller Field.

In the opening game, Grace's late rally was not enough to catch up with the Cougars (13-13, 8-10 CL). St. Francis jumped ahead 5-1 after a four-run outburst in the fifth inning. The Cougars ripped off four hits and benefitted from a fielding error to plate four runs.

Grace pulled one run back in the sixth inning. Clarissa Knight doubled to lead things off, and Chandler Elliott singled her home.

The Cougars pushed across two more runs in the top of the seventh for added insurance, and those runs proved to be the difference in the game. With two outs in the inning, St. Francis singled and then hit an inside-the-park homer to go up 7-2.

Grace started off its final at-bats with consecutive singles from Kati Gregory and Hannah Herbster. After the next two batters were retired, the Lady Lancers had their backs against the wall. But Grace showed resilience. Maribeth Strong and Herbster scored, and a Cougar dropped fly allowed Knight and Elliott to plate and make the score 7-6. The final batter grounded out, however, ending Grace's rally one hit shy.

Elliott batted 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and Brooke Shell was 2-for-4. Kati Gregory had two hits, and Knight scored twice.

The second game saw Grace fall into another early hole. St. Francis scored two runs in the first and second innings and held a 4-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.

Grace scored its first run of the game on its first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Clarissa Knight bombed a 1-1 pitch over the center field fence to make the score 4-1. The Lady Lancers cut the gap to one with a two-run rally in the sixth. Samantha Johnson bunted in one run, and Shell scored the second run off a ground ball.

But similar to the first game, St. Francis scored the decisive runs in the top of the seventh. The Cougars ripped off three runs on four hits to pull ahead 7-3.

Grace did not fade, however, and nearly won the game in the final at-bat. Gregory and Alex Shipley hit safely on the first two at-bats, and Brittany Melzoni drove in both runners to spark Grace's rally. Shell produced a clutch triple to the center field fence, scoring Herbster and cutting the gap to just one. But Grace was not able to drive in Shell from third base. With Shell on third and Knight on second, Elliott hit a potential game-winning line drive. Unfortunately for Grace, the laser was hit directly at USF's shortstop to end the game.

Shell was 2-for-3 from the leadoff spot, and Herbster plated twice.

The Lady Lancers wrap up a busy week at Miller Field on Saturday. Grace will host Goshen at 1 p.m.