JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis softball team used the long ball to its advantage against Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) on Tuesday afternoon en route to scoring 6-5 and 8-0 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victories over the Crimson Wave at the Harlow Lockwood Softball Fields in Joliet, Ill.  The Fighting Saints asserted their offensive dominance with power, using seven homeruns to produce eight of the team's 14 runs on the day.

There was plenty of offense to go around for USF with four different players taking credit for the homeruns and a total of seven players registering multi-hits on the day.  Emily Hurst (2 HR, 2 RBI) led the way with five hits in her seven at-bats, while Isabella Landeros (1 RBI) collected three hits and one walk in her six plate appearances.

Other big hitters on the day were Kamryn Koontz (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Jaelynn Taylor (2-for-6, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Sarah Viar (2-for-7, 1 HR, 2 RBI), and Missy Saldana (2-for-7, 2 RBI).

Game 1:  USF 6, Calumet St. Joseph 5
Aided by three multi-run innings, the Saints picked up their first win of the day with a 6-5 victory.  Seven USF players in all recorded at least one hit in the contest.

St. Francis spotted the Crimson Wave a 2-0 lead after the first two innings before the Saints got on the board with the game's first homerun when Koontz launched a solo shot over the centerfield wall to mark the score at 2-1.  USF tied the score at two runs apiece later in the frame after Saldana connected for a RBI single to score Kaitlyn Schofield.

An inning later, after CCSJ took advantage of a USF defensive mistake to retake the lead at 3-2, St. Francis retaliated with a charge by blasting back-to-back moonshots for the first time this season as Hurst and Taylor both went deep over the left field fence.

The Saints continued to apply pressure in the sixth when Taylor crushed another solo home run - her fourth in as many games - and followed with hits from Landeros (single) and Schofield (double), the latter of which accounted for USF's sixth run of the game by plating pinch runner Katherine Winkel.

Calumet St. Joseph did not go down without a fight, however, with the Crimson Wave connecting for a two-run homerun of their own followed by two consecutive singles to put the tying and go-ahead runs at second and third with just one out.  The situation resulted in head coach Alyssa Moreno calling upon Emily Boyle to come on in relief of starting pitcher Schofield, as to which Boyle would induce a short flyout for the second out of the inning before dramatically striking out CCSJ's Abby Krenkel on a full count to end the game.  Boyle's performance would result in the junior picking up her second save of the season.

Saldana, Hurst, Koontz and Scofield each had a hit and a RBI as part of USF's nine-hit attack.  Taylor and Landeros both authored two hits with Viar accounting for one.

Schofield (10-5) picked up her 10th win of the season in the circle, striking out four against one walk, in 6.1 innings of work.

Game 2:  USF 8, Calumet St. Joseph 0  (6 innings)
After starting the game with a 0-0 score through the first four and a half innings of play, the Saints plated five runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning courtesy of four hits and two CCSJ errors before Viar discharged a towering two-run longball over the right field wall.  

Not to be outdone, Hurst followed with a solo shot - her fifth of the season and second of the day - to lead off the fifth inning, before Koontz added another solo shot - her second of the day - to her stat sheet to put the Saints up 7-0.

Requiring one more run to activate the mercy rule and end the game early, Hailey Kaddatz delivered what was needed for USF in walk-off fashion in the sixth, connecting for a single to centerfield to plate Kylie Cook who had reached base two batters earlier with a double down the left field line.

Hurst paced the offense with her 4-for-4 showing at the plate.  Cook added another two hits to the Saints' total of 14, while eight others each registered one apiece.

Boyle was credited with the complete game shutout in the circle, improving her record to 9-2 on the year.  She struck out five across 6.0 innings of work while surrendering three hits and no runs.

Up Next
The Saints will travel to Whiting, Ind. tomorrow (March 25) to face Calumet St. Joseph in its final contest of the teams' three-game series.  First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm at the Whiting Sports Complex.

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