JOLIET, Ill. --- Following a two-week COVID pause, the University of St. Francis softball team returned to its winning ways with 4-0 and 5-1 victories over Calumet College of St. Joseph in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the Inwood Softball Complex.
Hannah Vachon (JR/Oxford, Mich.) (6-1) showed no rust in her return to the circle. She claimed both wins, going the distance in the opener and then coming on in the nightcap to toss another 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Shortstop Brittany Osborne (SO/Romeoville, Ill.) was also sharp at the top of the lineup going 2-for-4 in both games with a two-run home run in the Game 2.
Game 1 --- USF 4, Calumet St. Joseph 0
Pitching for the first time in 15 days, Vachon recorded her second shutout of the season by tossing a six-hitter. She struck out seven batters, while only giving up one walk.
Only once did Vachon allow a runner to get as far as third base and that was also the only time that USF's 2-0 lead at the time was threatened. It came in the fifth inning with runners at second and third base and two outs. Vachon got out of the jam with a tapper back to the circle.
Madisen Tucker (JR/St. John, Ind.) was the hitting star in Game 1, going 3-for-3 with two runs batted in and one scored. Her home run with one out in the second inning was the only run the Saints would need in the contest. She would add a run-scoring double in the fifth inning to close out the scoring.
The latter run was part of a two-run inning with left fielder Bridget McDermott (SO/Palos Heights, Ill.) driving in the other run with one of her two hits in the contest. She also scored two of the team's four runs.
Game 2 --- USF 5, Calumet St. Joseph 1
Vachon delivered again, this time out of the bullpen, where she allowed only two hits, while striking out three to bump her record up to 6-1 on the season. Her linescore for the day showed 10 2/3 innings of scoreless pitching, allowing eight hits and striking out 10 against only one walk.
Like she did in the opener, Vachon got out of a critical situation when she came on in relief of Tucker, who started. Vachon came in after Calumet St. Joseph cut the deficit to 2-1 and had runners at first and second base and only one out in the fourth inning. The Crimson Wave then sacrificed the runners over to second and third base before Vachon got a called third strike to end the rally.
She also got assistance in the fifth inning after Calumet St. Joseph opened that frame with a triple. The next batter hit what appeared to be a sacrifice fly to knot the score at two-all, but the runner was ruled out for leaving the base too early.
Calumet St. Joseph (11-31, 5-11 CCAC) would never threaten again, while the Saints got a bases-loaded walk from Tucker in the bottom half of that inning and Osborne's two-run home run in the sixth to pull away.
USF's first two runs were aided by center fielder Carlie Benes (Valparaiso, Neb.), who authored a single and a double as part of a 3-for-3 game for her. Third baseman Danielle Callahan (JR/New Lenox, Ill.) drove in the first run on a groundout in the opening inning, while first baseman Kayla Garcia (GR/Chicago, Ill.) provided an RBI single up the middle in the third inning.
The Saints (16-4, 6-2) are right back at it on Sunday, traveling to Indiana University South Bend for another conference doubleheader beginning at noon Central Daylight Time.
