HENDERSON, Tenn. --- The University of St. Francis softball team gained early 1-0 leads, but NAIA No. 15-ranked Central Methodist University (Mo.) and No. 14 Ottawa University (Kan.) both rallied in the later innings to put an end to the Fighting Saints' season at the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. Central Methodist scored single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to land a 2-1 victory Tuesday afternoon before a fourth-inning grand slam ruined USF's upset bid in a 4-1 loss to Ottawa in the nightcap.
After being shutout in their final two games of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, the Saints were able to muster up just the two runs in their only two games of the Opening Round despite outhitting both opponents. Head coach
Amanda Jensen's club held a 7-6 hitting advantage over Central Methodist, while Ottawa managed just three hits to USF's five in the finale.
Brittany Osborne provided the most offense for USF with all three of her hits on the day coming in the first game.
Rose Mwaro,
Danielle Callahan and
Kaylie Sippel all had one hit in each end of the twinbill.
As she had been all season long,
Hannah Vachon (15-4) was tough in the circle, allowing just two earned runs in 8 2/3 innings over the two contests.
Game 1: Central Methodist 2, St. Francis 1
Half of Central Methodist's six hits went for doubles, including the two that came with two outs to drive in the Eagles' two runs. The first one came on the back end of back-to-back hits in the fourth inning to tie the contest at one-all after the first two batters were retired. The latter one to right field scored the go-ahead run from first base in the sixth inning.
USF's only run came in the third inning when Central Methodist was called for obstruction on a play at the plate after Osborne singled with one out and then stole second base with two outs. The obstruction came after Callahan singled to left field.
The Saints did put runners in scoring position in the second, fifth and seventh innings, but all three times came with two outs and Central Methodist (39-10) was able to thwart the rallies.
Osborne accounted for three of the team's seven hits.
Game 2: Ottawa 4, USF 1
Ottawa (42-10) did all of its damage in one inning, producing all of its hits and runs for the game in the fourth inning courtesy of a Emma Melvin grand slam to centerfield. The rally came just after a nearly two-hour rain delay, one of three stoppages of play that the Saints had to endure in the tournament.
Ottawa did not gain its first hit off St. Francis starter
Madisen Tucker (11-2) until one out into the fourth inning. Rain and lightning came right after that hit, forcing a one-hour, 47-minute delay. When play resumed, Brave hitters coaxed back-to-back walks before Melvin's game-changing home run.
The Saints gained their only run in the first inning on an error on an attempted forceout play. In that inning and both the second and fifth innings, USF put runners in scoring position with only one out, but could not plate any more runs.
No Saint had more than one hit with the team finishing with five hits for the game.
Notes: In only one other two-game set on the same day did the Saints score two runs or less. That was the 2-1 and 1-0 doubleheader setbacks to Roosevelt on April 2 … USF was bothered by poor weather throughout the tournament. The Central Methodist contest was started on Monday night before being halted in the bottom of the first inning and pushed to Tuesday afternoon. The Ottawa game was delayed twice by lightning and rain … Osborne's three-hit contest against Central Methodist was her 18th multi-hit game of the season, leaving her one shy of Callahan's club-high 19 games … The pair also battled for the team title in ten other offensive categories with Osborne winning in runs scored (46), hits (62), stolen bases (8), doubles (17), triples (4) and total bases (99). Callahan led in batting average (.414), slugging percentage (.707), runs batted in (46) and home runs (10) … Vachon led the way in six of eight pitching categories highlighted by her 15 wins and 107 strikeouts … Osborne had her team-high streak of reaching base in 19 straight games snapped in the season finale … Mwaro will carry a 12-game hitting streak into next spring after collecting hits in each end of Tuesday's contests … After putting together a streak of 23 wins in 25 games, the Saints concluded their season with four straight setbacks … USF's 18-2 league mark led to its first conference regular-season championship since 2018 and its 13th title overall.
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