Box Score CLERMONT, Fla. - March 6, 2022 – Hiram College softball dropped their season opener, 3-2, in a close contest against the 13th-ranked Mount St. Joseph Lions on Sunday at the Legends Way Ballfields. Hiram's second game of the day, originally scheduled for 11:15 a.m. against Swarthmore College, was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances.
 
After the Terriers left a base runner on in the top of the first, Darian Kanno took the bump for the Terriers, making her first collegiate start.
 
Kanno worked around a leadoff walk to strand a base runner at third in the bottom of the first, striking out a pair, and then stranded two in the bottom of the second to keep things scoreless.
 
Hiram got their first base runner in the top of the third, as Abriana Schwartz reached on an error, but neither team was able to scratch a run across, as Kanno set down the side in the bottom of the third.
 
The Terriers then threatened in the top of the fourth, with Giselle Bahena leading off with a walk, and one batter later, Jeskari Rodriguez launched a double to deep right-center. But Casey Kemp set down the next two Terriers, ending Hiram's threat and bringing the Lions back to the plate.
 
A hit-by-pitch and a single put two aboard with one out for the Lions, but Kanno got Kaci Finchum to hit into an infield fly. However, a dropped fly ball brought both base runners home before Emily McDonald's RBI triple made it a 3-0 Mount St. Joseph lead.
 
Hiram though, quickly answered in the top of the fifth. Kylie Perez led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Melissa Galindo then brought her home with an RBI triple to left-center, making it a 3-1 MSJ lead.
 
One batter later, Kanno then helped herself, bringing Galindo home with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.
 
Kanno then worked around an infield single, keeping Mount St. Joseph off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, but Kemp matched her pitch-for-pitch, setting the Terriers down in order in the sixth.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Kanno worked around a pair of base runners to keep MSJ's lead at just one, but the Terriers couldn't scratch out a run in the top of the seventh, and fell, 3-2.
 
Kanno (0-1) took the tough-luck loss, allowing just three unearned runs on five hits, walking two and striking out five. Kemp (3-2) earned the win for Mount St. Joseph.
 
With the loss, Hiram falls to 0-1 on the year, while the Lions move to 5-4.
 
Bahena led the Terriers at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk, while Galindo and Rodriguez each notched an extra-base hit, with Galindo adding an RBI.
 
The Terriers continue play at The Spring Games on Monday, March 7 at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, Fla., with matchups against Illinois College and Saint Benedict scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.