HENDERSON, Tenn. -- A four-game series did not get off to the start that the University of St. Francis baseball team wanted on Friday afternoon as the Fighting Saints dropped 15-5 and 16-6 decisions to Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.) at Five Wells Field.

Freed-Hardeman (11-3) scored multiple runs in four of its six at-bats in the first game before duplicating the feat in the nightcap to cruise to its two 10-run victories on the day.  USF (3-7) managed six hits in the first contest, while collecting eight in the second game.

Hayden Host (3 hits), Jake Merda (2 hits) and Ethan Fleming (2 hits) were the only Saints to register multiple hits on the afternoon, while Mitchell Thomas (4 RBIs) was the lone Saint to collect multiple RBIs.

Game 1:  Freed-Hardeman 15, USF 5
After St. Francis took an early 1-0 lead via a Ryan Louthan RBI double in the first inning to score Max Montgomery, Freed-Hardeman put up nine runs over its first three innings before authoring a backbreaking six-run fifth frame to mark the score at 15-1.

The Saints did not go down without a fight, however, using two homeruns to plate all four of its runs in the seventh inning.  Jacob Blim took credit for the first blast with a leadoff homer to to leftfield, before Thomas delivered another big blow with a three-RBI shot over the right field wall to score Fleming and Host who had previously reached base via singles.

Jack Otis (1-1) was credited with the loss after three innings on the mound.

Game 2:  Freed-Hardeman 16, USF 6
After Freed-Hardeman scored five runs in the first inning, the Saints manufactured four runs off four singles and a sacrifice fly in the second after Host lead the frame off with a double down the leftfield line. Brant Singler, Christian Rosales and Haruki Maruyama all collected RBIs in the frame which was capped off with Thomas' sac fly.  The Lions added runs in four of its five remaining at-bats, including a two-run fourth inning, followed by a one-run fifth, before scoring two more in the sixth and four in the final stanza in the seven-inning shortened affair.

The Saints tacked on two more scores to their tally before all was said and done.  One came off a sacrifice fly from Brian Graves in the third inning, while the second was the product of a two-out error from the Lions in the sixth.

Frank Curbis (0-1) picked up the loss for USF in the circle in his 3.2 innings of work.

Up Next
The Saints wrap up their four-game set against the Lions on Saturday (Feb. 28) with a second doubleheader matchup beginning at 2 pm at Five Wells Field.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.