CROWN POINT, Ind. --- For a second straight game, the University of St. Francis remained in an offensive funk at the 2023 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament and bowed out of the double-elimination tournament following its 1-0 setback to Trinity Christian College on Friday afternoon.

After being limited to just four hits the previous day in a 7-0 loss to Roosevelt University, the Fighting Saints (32-9) collected six on Friday, two of which came to open the game.  USF did put runners in scoring position in five of its seven innings, but each time Trinity Christian (21-18) was able to get out of the jam.

Besides the first inning when it had runners at first and second base with no one out, St. Francis produced one-out doubles in the fourth and sixth innings.  In the former frame, another single put runners at first and third base with only one out, but a strikeout and flyout ended that scoring opportunity.

Trinity Christian also left the door open for the Saints in the seventh inning when it allowed a two-base error to start the inning.  A groundout moved the runner to third base, but a short flyball to centerfield could not score the runner and a groundout ended the game.

Trinity Christian, which produced just four hits off St. Francis starter Hannah Vachon (15-3), got two in a row in the fourth inning to score the lone run of the contest.  A triple followed by a single was all that was needed to end USF's run in the tournament.

Maddie Massaro had two of USF's six hits, including one of the team's two doubles.

Vachon struck out four batters and did not allow a walk.

Notes: The two-game losing streak is just the second time this season that the Saints have dropped back-to-back games.  The last time it happened, they followed with a 15-game winning streak … The loss also marked just the fourth time this season that USF failed to score in a contest … Massaro's two-hit game was her tenth multi-hit affair of the season … Brittany Osborne has reached base safely in 18 straight games following her game-opening single, while Rose Mwaro extended her streak to ten games in a row with her base hit … The Saints will have to wait until Tuesday to find out who its next opponent will be on the schedule.  At 4 pm that day, the NAIA announces its National Tournament Opening Round matchups at each of ten sites from May 15-17.       

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