Lady Lions not able to hang with Royals

Despite a big homer from Molli Deere, the No. 20 Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions well 9-5 in the first game of the doubleheader against the Warner (Fla.) University Royals. FHU would then fall behind early in the second game, falling to the Royals 6-3.
GAME 1: FHU – 5 WARNER – 9
With Karli Quillin drawing a leadoff walk, Brooklyn Jimmerson was able to drive in the first run of the day with a two-out double to left field to give the Lady Lions (2-3) an early 1-0 edge.
Warner (1-4) answered back in the home half of the first inning by also taking advantage of a leadoff walk. A two-out single would plate the tying run for the Royals. Warner would take a one-run lead in the bottom of the third when a single was followed by a double to put the Lady Lions down 2-1.
Brinley Cousar sparked some offense for the Lady Lions, legging out a triple to lead off the fourth inning. Cousar would come home on the next at-bat with Myleah Hardy lifting a sacrifice fly to knot the game 2-2.
With Warner tacking on two runs in the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Lions looked to the top of the order to keep things rolling. Quillin led off with a single before swiping second. Natalie Gilmore was able to reach thanks to an error before swiping a bag to put runners on second and third. Those stolen bases mattered little as Molli Deere smashed a three-run homer to give the Lady Lions a 5-4 lead.
The Royals kept seeing the ball well, drawing two walks and a single before a bases-clearing double ended the scoring with Warner getting the 9-5 victory.
Kylee Brown (1-3) was charged with the loss in relief of Katelyn Bradford.
Five different Lady Lions collected hits with Molli Deere’s long ball driving in a team-high three runs.
GAME 2: FHU – 3 WARNER – 6
The Lady Lions (2-4) fell behind early when a bases-loaded walk was one of three free passes in the bottom of the first to give Warner a 1-0 lead.
WU (2-4) tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third by scoring two runs off of two hits to take a 3-0 advantage. A two-run single in the bottom of the fourth kept the Lady Lions behind, now trailing 5-0.
FHU got on the board in the top of the fifth when Karli Quillin’s single drove home the first run before an errant throw allowed Myleah Hardy to score the second FHU run who now trailed 5-2. A Warner RBI double in the bottom of the sixth and Chloe Carter driving in a run in the top of the seventh set the final score to 6-3.
Chloe Winters (0-2) went the distance in the circle, giving up six walks to three strikeouts.
Karli Quillin and Alivia Eggleston both collected two hits on the day.