CLERMONT, Fla. – The Missouri Baptist University softball team is still in search of its first win at the PFX Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., following Tuesday's games against sixth-ranked Marian University and College of Saint Mary (Neb.). In game one against Marian, the Spartans were held scoreless in a 7-0 shutout, but finally showed some signs of life offensively in a closely-contested loss to College of Saint Mary, 5-4.
 
MBU totaled five hits per game and was led by senior catcher, Meagan Elder, who went 3-for-4 and accounted for 1/3 of the Spartans' hits on the day.
 
Freshmen pitchers Addison Rinderer and Mackenzie Schweizer each closed out one of the games and provided 2+ innings of relief for the Spartans.
 
No. 6 Marian University 7, Missouri Baptist University 0
Facing their first ranked opponent of the season, the Spartans held their own against No. 6-ranked Marian University, excluding one inning that got away.
 
The Crusaders got on the board early with an RBI double by Shelbie Stotts in the bottom of the 1^st. Leading off the second, Missouri Baptist's Meagan Elder answered with a double to deep left, but was left stranded at third following three straight ground outs.
 
Fast forward to the bottom of the 4^th, which is when the Top 10 opponent began to pull away. The Crusaders batted around registering 6 runs on 7 hits, representing nearly 60% of their hits for the game in just one inning.
 
Coming into the game in the fifth, freshman Addison Rinderer was credited with 2.2 shutout innings of relief. The pitcher from Highland, Ill. struck out two while giving up three hits.
 
Offensively, Elder led the way against Marian with a pair of hits. Others to record a hit in the game included Ally Gischer, Jordan Corby and Cami Meddows.
 
College of Saint Mary 5, Missouri Baptist University 4
In Game Two, the Spartans scored first and for a short period of time, held a 2-0 advantage. Smart baserunning put MBU in a position to strike first and did so with a double steal. Sending Miranda Brown to second, Caitlin McNiff timed it just right to cross home plate and give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Two outs later, Brown scored on a Rachel Galbraith single to right field.
 
College of St. Mary matched MBU's two runs and raised them one in the top half of the third. The Flames added two more runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 5-2 lead. The Spartan offense, which had gone quiet for three frames, came to life. Capitalizing on a CSM error, Caitlin McNiff drove in MaKenzie Harbaugh for the Spartans' first run in the bottom of the sixth. Jordan Corby later scored via a Cami Meddows sac fly to center, but there wasn't enough offense left in the tank.
 
Making her collegiate debut, freshman pitcher Mackenzie Schweizer made the most of her opportunity. Throwing 2.0 innings of relief and facing eight batters, Schweizer recorded three strikeouts, while allowing just one hit and an unearned run to close out the College of St Mary game.