CLERMONT, Fla. - A complete-game effort from Chandler Elliott helped Grace's softball team to a 10-2 win over the University of Mary on Tuesday.
The Lady Lancers (3-7) are over halfway through their Spring break trip to Florida, having played six games.
On Monday, Grace lost a pair of games to No. 15 Davenport and Cleary. On Tuesday, Grace slipped 6-4 to St. Thomas before run-ruling Mary 10-2 in six innings.
The Lady Lancers had an eye toward upsetting No. 15 Davenport on Monday. Grace led 1-0 after three innings, but the Panthers used a pair of three-run outbursts to pull away for an 8-2 win.
Clarissa Knight had two of Grace's four hits in the game, and Sam Heim was 1-of-2 with a stolen base.
Against Cleary, Grace again surrendered an early lead. The Lady Lancers struggled to string together its hits and lost 11-3. Grace had 12 hits, including a 3-for-4 performance from Brittany Turner, and a 2-for-2 day by Abby Mozingo.
Grace led 2-0 entering the bottom of the third. But the Cougars secured the win with three runs in the third and seven runs in the fourth.
On Tuesday, Grace's late rally against St. Thomas came up short. The Bobcats held a comfortable 6-0 lead until Grace finally broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth.
In the bottom of the seventh, Grace produced three runs before coming up short 6-4.
Chandler Elliott batted 3-for-4, and Hannah Herbster and Heim were both 2-for-4. Freshman Hannah England pitched all seven innings from the mound.
The final game on Tuesday resulted in a mercy-rule victory for Grace. The University of Mary jumped out to a 2-0 lead after batting first in the opening inning, but the Lady Lancers countered with 10 unanswered runs to win in six innings.
Grace scored four in the second inning, one in the third, three in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Mariah Roman provided the game-clinching moment with a sacrifice fly.
After giving up two runs in the first inning, Elliott blanked the Marauders for the rest of the game. She finished with a complete-game victory, striking out two batters with nine hits surrendered in a strong performance.
Knight and Elliott each produced three hits, and Turner had 1 hit, 1 run and 2 steals. Ashley Kleinbub doubled and scored twice, and Herbster plated two times and stole a base.
The Lady Lancers have four games remaining in Florida. Grace plays a doubleheader against Point Park on Thursday and ends the trip against Lourdes and No. 10 St. Xavier on Friday.
