BELLEVILLE, Ill. - For most of the season, the Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions have been among the best offensive teams in the NAIA.

On Friday, though, hits and runs were hard to come by, and the result was a sweep by Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) by scores of 5-1 and 1-0.

FHU (19-12, 12-6) came into the day ranking sixth in the nation in hits per game and 16th in runs per game but only managed a combined 13 hits and one run in the two games. The Lady Lions also stranded 17 runners on day.

The Lynx (19-17, 12-4) scored four runs in the first two innings of the opener, including a leadoff home run by Kaylin Stewart. It proved to be more than enough for starting pitcher Taylor Winn, who held FHU to five hits and allowed an unearned run in the fifth when a Jessica Weeks groundout scored Katie Sholl from third.

The Lady Lions still had a chance in the seventh after loading the bases with two outs, but Winn retired Kamara Trice to end the game.

Katie Clarke (1-3) tossed a gem in the second game, allowing only one run on six hits, but took the hard-luck loss when FHU was unable to push a run across against the combination of Winn and Michele Pilster. Once again, the Lady Lions had a chance to tie or take the lead in the seventh but Trice grounded into a game-ending double-play.

The losses dropped FHU four spots in the conference standings from second to sixth place, but only three games out of first place.

The road trip concludes tomorrow with a double-header against St. Louis College of Pharmacy at 11:00 AM.