LAKELAND, Fla. – The 22nd-ranked Caldwell University softball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Florida Southern, winning 3-2 in eight innings and losing 4-1, Thursday night at Barnett Field. The Cougars are now 3-6 on the year, while the Mocs are 14-18.

In the first game, Florida Southern took a 2-0 lead into the top of the seventh inning. Senior Alyssa Calderon (Fontana, CA/Etiwanda) led off the inning with a single, then freshman Marisa Monasseri (Monroe, NJ/Monroe Twp.) belted a two-run home run to left field to tie the score at 2-2. After junior pitcher Amber Padilla (Chino, CA/Pomona Catholic) retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Amy Hickman (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Liberty) led off the eighth with a single. She moved to third on a pair of groundouts, then came home on a wild pitch for a 3-2 lead. Again Padilla got the Mocs out in order in the eighth to preserve the win.

Padilla allowed two runs on 10 hits while striking out six and walking four in eight innings to improve to 3-1.

Florida Southern scored twice in the third inning of Game 2 to take an early lead. In the top of the fifth inning, sophomore Lauren Frye (Jupiter, FL/Jupiter) reached on an error and later came home on a wild pitch to make the score 2-1 Florida Southern. But the Mocs scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, and Caldwell managed just one base runner over the final two innings.

Sophomore pitcher Sydney Ponto (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) gave up four unearned runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. Monasseri and junior Katelyn Biasi (Blackwood, NJ/Sterling) had the Cougars' only two hits off starter Hannah Loyer, who pitched six innings in the win.

The Cougars complete their Florida trip with a doubleheader against the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday, Mar. 19, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla.