BOURBONNAIS, Ill. --- A pair of late-inning home runs by Olivet Nazarene University's Miranda Southall proved to be the difference in the Tigers claiming both ends of their Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader with University of St. Francis on Friday afternoon. Southall hit a walk-off solo home run to win Game 1 by a 5-4 count before delivering a two-run home run in a 3-2 second-game victory.
The losses snapped a season-high nine-game winning streak for the Saints (14-4, 4-2), while the No.16 ranked Tigers improved to 14-3 overall and 5-0 in league play.
Both teams finished with nearly identical offensive numbers, including the same amount of hits (20) and runners left on base (15) by day's end. USF, however, was hurt by its six errors.
Third baseman Danielle Callahan (JR/New Lenox, Ill.) and left fielder/pitcher Bridget McDermott (SO/Palos Heights, Ill.) each drove in a pair of runs for the Saints. Callahan also matched catcher Maddie Massaro (SO/Romeoville, Ill.) for the most hits over the two games with four.
Game 1 --- Olivet Nazarene 5, USF 4
Three separate ties were a part of the see-saw first game before Southall ended the contest with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Callahan (3-for-4) helped the Saints get off to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with her RBI double. She then tied it with another run-scoring hit in the fifth inning after Olivet Nazarene scored one run in the third inning and two more in the fourth to take its first lead, 3-2.
The Tigers matched Callahan's run in the bottom of the fifth inning to regain the lead only to give it up one-half inning later on a passed ball to force the final tie at four-all.
Massaro and designated player/pitcher Madisen Tucker (JR/St. John, Ind.) each registered a pair of hits in the contest.
Game 2 --- Olivet Nazarene 3, USF 2
A three-run fifth inning, which included an error in between an inning-opening triple and Southall's home run, was all that kept the Saints from gaining a split on the day.
USF again took a lead in the first inning on McDermott's RBI single, but could only get as close as the one-run final difference after Massaro's run-scoring single in the sixth inning.
The Saints did leave eight runners on base in the nightcap after stranding seven in the opener.
McDermott (3-3) suffered the defeat in both ends of the doubleheader, coming on in relief in the opener and starting Game 2. She tried to help her own cause with a pair of hits, the same amount as her battery mate Massaro.
Following the announcement of Saturday's postponed doubleheader with Cardinal Stritch University, the Saints return to action on Tuesday to face another ranked foe in No.19 Saint Xavier University. First pitch for the CCAC twinbill is slated for 5 pm.
