CHICAGO --- The University of St. Francis softball team dealt Saint Xavier University its first loss in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 13-5 Game 1 win, but the Saints could not gain the sweep as SXU rebounded for an 11-3 second-game victory on Friday afternoon.

USF (17-9, 7-3 CCAC) rallied from a 3-1 deficit in Game 1 and blew things open with an eight run seventh inning. The Saints again fell behind early in the second game, but could not overcome a 6-0 deficit after three innings.

Bridget McDermott (11-1) did all she could, picking up the first game win in the circle and driving in all three Saint runs in the nightcap. She was one of three Saints to hit a home run on the day.

Danielle Callahan also had a big day offensively with her team high five hits. Brittany Osborne was one behind going 4 for 8 with four RBIs on the afternoon.

Game 1: USF 13, Saint Xavier 5
Osborne (3-for-5) drove in the Saints' first four runs and Maddy Eckberg picked the perfect time for her first home run of the season – a three run shot – to spark the eight run seventh inning as well as the comeback victory. Osborne's three run double in the fourth inning turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead and from there the game went back and forth.

Saint Xavier (20-6, 9-1) regained a 5-4 edge in the fifth inning with a two run home run only to have the Saints answer with their own shot over the right center field fence in the sixth inning. Like Eckberg, Kenna Kleinert (2-for-3) could not have selected a much better time to record her first home run of the season to tie the contest at five all.

McDermott followed by getting out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth inning. She returned to the circle with a runner on second base and no one out. After Saint Xavier sacrificed the runner over to third base, McDermott got a foul out and a groundout to end the threat. 

The Saints then took advantage of two Saint Xavier errors to fuel the big seventh inning. Madisen Tucker drove in the first run with her second single of the game and Gracyn Gabriel followed with a sacrifice fly. Eckberg then provided her three run home run before the Saints strung five straight singles together to score three more times. Callahan (3-for-4), McDermott, and Kaylie Sippel all had run scoring hits in the inning.   

Game 2: Saint Xavier 11, USF 3
The Saints returned the favor to Saint Xavier with three costly errors in Game 2 as Saint Xavier scored nine of their 11 runs after two outs with six of the runs being unearned.

The Cougars had a 6-0 lead before McDermott got the Saints on the board with her two run home run in the fourth inning. She added an RBI single in the fifth, but by that time the Saint Xavier lead had swelled to 10-3.

McDermott and Callahan each had a pair of hits for USF in Game 2.

Up Next
The Saints take on Trinity Christian College in a makeup doubleheader on Monday in Palos Heights beginning at 3 pm.

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