WINTER HAVEN, Fl. - The Quincy University softball team returned to action in Winter Haven, Florida on Monday (Mar. 9). The Hawks faced Lake Erie in the first game of the day and dropped the tight contest 3-1 before falling to Glenville State 6-3 in game two.

Lake Erie 3, Quincy 1
The Hawks found themselves in yet another defensive battle early on in game one. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the opening frame, as Bailee Highbarger worked a quick first inning.

The Storm were able to plate one run on two hits in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.

The next three innings were fairly quiet as both teams combined for just four hits. The game moved to the sixth inning with Quincy still trailing by one.

Ashley Gerber led off the sixth in style. The freshman from Racine, Wisconsin launched the first home run of her career to bring QU even with LEC.

The Storm were able to retire the next three Quincy batters, however, to limit the damage.

LEC retook the lead in the bottom of the inning when they scored two runs on two hits and one QU error.

The Hawks put runners on first and third with two outs in the top of the seventh, but were unable to bring in any runs.

Quincy fell by a final score of 3-1.

Glenville State 6, Quincy 3
For the second time on Monday, the Hawks had to play from behind for the majority of the game.

Glenville tallied all six of their runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings on eight hits and one QU error.

Quincy's offense came alive in the bottom half of the sixth inning. QU loaded the bases for Madeline Ruzicka after a single, error, and hit by pitch.

The Canton, Georgia native came up to the plate and roped a bases-clearing double to cut the Pioneers lead in half. Audrey Hermann, Taylor Downen, and Casey Brennan all scored on the play to bring the score to 6-3.

QU's offensive attack proved to be too little, too late as Glenville held on for the victory in the final inning.

Game 1 Stat Leaders
Ashley Gerber - 1-3, R, HR, RBI

Bailee Highbarger - 5 IP, 3R, 4H, K

Game 2 Stat Leaders
Madeline Ruzicka - 2-3, 2B, 3 RBIs
Kari Sarhage - 2-4

Morgan Tanksley - 7 IP, 6R, 9H, 4K

Up Next
The Hawks will wrap up their trip tomorrow (Mar. 10) as they take on Post University at 10 a.m. (ET) and Ashland University at 12:15 p.m. (ET).