JOLIET, Ill. -- Kiersten Manning made it a Senior Day to remember on Tuesday afternoon after the senior pitcher recorded a one-hit victory over St. Ambrose University (Iowa) for the University of St. Francis softball team, but a second-inning offensive outburst by the visiting Bees kept the Fighting Saints from registering their third straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep with 6-2 and 9-1 final scores.  St. Francis honored its four seniors - Giavanna Colletti, Zoe Ditter, Manning and Rose Mwaro – in between games.

Manning (8-7) struck out 14 opposing batters between the two games and two Saints got the day off on the right foot with multi-RBI games.  Mwaro and Emily Hurst each recorded two hits on the afternoon, split evenly between the two contests.

Game 1:  USF 6, St. Ambrose 2
Six of nine St. Francis starters produced hits as part of an overall 12-hit attack for the hosts.  Isabella Landeros led the way with her 4-for-4, 4-RBI performance.  Emily Boyle (3-for-4, 3 runs scored) and Hailey Kaddatz (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) also had multiple hits for USF (14-15, 9-3 CCAC).

Landeros wasted little time in extending her five-game hitting streak with a RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. She also drove in another run in the fifth inning after St. Ambrose brought the game to a 3-2 score in the top half of the same frame.  Landeros saved her best for last, however, when she plated USF's last two runs one inning later with a two-out single to right field.

The loudest hit of the day for the Saints came in the fourth inning when Kaddatz connected for a towering two-run home run that also scored Ditter, who had reached base earlier in the inning on a SAU defensive miscue.

Manning threw a gem in the circle for the Saints, allowing just one hit across seven innings of work to pick up her eighth win of the season.  The senior slinger fanned seven Bees in the contest, while allowing just one walk.  She carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning before SAU connected for a solo home run off the bat of Kylie Schult.

Game 2:  St. Ambrose 9, USF 1  (5 innings)
St. Ambrose used a six-hit attack to improve to 21-17 overall and 7-5 in league play on the season.  The Bees led 4-0 through the first two innings before putting the game out of reach with five runs over the final three frames, including a three-run fifth inning.

USF's only tally came in the fifth inning on a two-out RBI double off the bat of Manning that scored Hurst, who reached base on a double of her own.

The Saints only other hit of the game came from Mwaro, who broke up a no-hit bid by SAU starting pitcher Ada Boysen when she produced an infield hit in the fourth frame.

St. Ambrose boasted two players with multiple hits, Becca Haag (2-for-2, 3 RBIs) and Brynnlin Kroymann (2-for-2, 2 RBIs).

Boyle (6-7) shouldered the loss for the Saints in the circle, allowing just two hits against four walks in two innings of work.  Manning tossed the final three innings, striking out seven of the 13 hitters she faced.

Up Next
The Saints will travel to Palos Heights, Ill. on Thursday (April 17) to take on Trinity Christian College in a CCAC doubleheader.  Game time is set for 2:30 pm at the Schaaf Athletic Complex.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.