JOLIET, Ill. --- The University of St. Francis softball team played stingy yet again on Thursday afternoon, authoring two more shutouts to bring its total to six in the last seven games with its 16-0 and 14-0 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference wins over Trinity International University at the Harlow Lockwood Softball Fields.
Hannah Vachon (9-1) ran her scoreless streak to 35 2/3 innings by tossing a five-inning no-hitter in Game 1, while
Jordan Closs (2-2) posted her first collegiate shutout in the nightcap.
Offensively, 14 different Fighting Saint players recorded at least one hit on the day, including
Danielle Callahan, who homered twice in the same inning in Game 1. She finished the day with four hits and seven runs batted in.
Rose Mwaro provided the most hits (five) on the day to go along with three runs batted in.
USF opened each game with a five-run first inning.
Game 1: USF 16, Trinity International 0
Callahan's back-to-back two-run home runs came in the fourth inning when the Saints scored 11 times on eight hits.Â
Bridget McDermott (two-run home run) and
Madisen Tucker (two-run single) helped stake USF to a 5-0 first-inning lead.
Callahan finished the game going 3-for-4 with five runs batted in and two runs scored. Other multi-hit efforts came from
Maddie Massaro and Mwaro, both of whom had two hits.Â
Gracyn Gabriel drove in three runs.
Just a one-out walk in the second inning kept Vachon from having a perfect game. She struck out five batters and needed just 61 pitches to hurl the shutout.
Game 2: USF 14, Trinity International 0
Mwaro led USF in Game 2 with her three hits and three runs batted in. She was one of four Saints to record at least two hits and one of three to have multiple RBIs.
Kara Kleinert, Gabriel and McDermott each collected a pair of hits, while
Kenna Kleinert and Callahan drove home two runs each.
The Saints scored in each of their four at bats with a five-run first inning, four runs in both the second and third innings and one in the fourth.
Closs struck out four in the shutout. She yielded three hits and three walks. Â
Notes: Thirteen different Saints authored hits in the first game, while ten did so in Game 2. In all, USF totaled 32 hits in just eight innings … The Saints' three home runs in Game 1 and five doubles in the nightcap tied team highs … Three St. Francis players currently have streaks of reaching base in at least ten games in a row.Â
Massaro tops the list at 13, followed by
Brittany Osborne at 12 and Callahan at ten … Osborne also has a 12-game hitting streak going … The Saints have allowed just one run in their last seven games and three runs during their eight-game winning streak … They are at The Ballpark at Rosemont to face Roosevelt University on Sunday for a noon doubleheader.
Links to live coverage can be found at gofightingsaints.com/coverage. You can also keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on Twitter @USFSaints.
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