DAVENPORT, Iowa -- The University of St. Francis softball team opened an initial 4-3 lead before suffering a 5-4 walk-off setback to St. Ambrose University (Iowa) in the front end of its Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon and put together a seventh-inning rally to solidify a 2-1 victory over the Bees in its second game to come away with a split in the front end of the two team's three-game league series at St. Vincent's Athletic Complex in Davenport, Iowa.

After taking the lead in the top of the sixth inning, St. Ambrose (17-11, 7-1) rallied with one run in the bottom of the sixth and one more in the eighth to claim the walk-off victory in the opener.  In the nightcap, St. Francis (21-8, 7-1) took a 1-0 lead after the fourth inning before seeing the Bees surge back with one run in the fifth.  USF would later boast as the victors with Saldana taking credit for the game-winning RBI in the seventh.

Six Saints produced multiple hits on the day, highlighted by Sarah Viar (3-for-6, 1 BB, 1 RBI).  Isabella Landeros (3-for-7) and Kylie Cook (3-for-8, 1 RBI) each collected three hits, while Emily Hurst (2-for8, 1 RBI), Jaelynn Taylor (2-for-7) and Morgan Smardo (2-for-7, 1 RBI) both secured two.

Game 1:  St. Ambrose 5, USF 4  (8 innings)
St. Francis appeared to be on the verge of defeating St. Ambrose with a 4-3 opening game victory until a sixth inning SAU homerun followed by two two-out walks in the eighth set the stage for a walk-off 5-4 extra inning win for the hosts that ended a productive day at the plate for the Saints.

A total of 16 hits were registered between the two squads with St. Ambrose taking credit for nine.  The final two hits would be the most decisive ones for the Bees, however, with SAU's Becca Haag and Taylor Martyn playing the villains with their game-tying home run and game-winning RBI single, respectively, generating the team's fifth and sixth runs.  Haag would connect for a solo blast to knot the game at 5-all, before Martyn gave St. Ambrose its final run on a walk-off single two innings later to mark the final score at 5-4.

St. Francis put the first run of the game on the board, scoring via a RBI double off the bat of Cook in the first inning, before the Bees exploded for three hits to plate two runs of their own in the bottom half of the same frame.

The Saints would take the lead back in the fifth after plating single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but St. Ambrose would even the score at 3-3 with a run of their own in its half of the fifth.  In the sixth, St. Francis appeared to be on the verge of winning the game after a two-out bases loaded walk put the Saints ahead by one run but St. Ambrose held other plans with their late game heroics.

Hurst and Landeros each had two hits in the game for the Saints, while Cook, Viar and Kaitlyn Schofield all collected one hit apiece.

Schofield (10-6) shouldered the loss in the circle for the Saints, allowing nine hits while striking out three over 7 2/3 innings of work.  She would give up five earned runs in the contest.

Game 2:  USF 2, St. Ambrose 1
After being three-hit by the SAU pitching staff through three innings of play, the Saints would take the lead in the fourth frame with a run that was produced via a two-out RBI single from Smardo that scored Taylor, who had previously reach base earlier in the inning with a lead-off base hit.

St. Ambrose, which failed to plate a run after leaving four base runners stranded throughout its first four at-bats, tied the game at one run apiece in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-out single.  The Saints were able to draw the eventual game-winning run in the seventh after back-to-back base hits from Smardo (double) and Saldana (RBI-single) pushed the go-ahead run across the plate before Landeros solidified the 2-1 victory by throwing out a potential SAU base stealer in the bottom of the seventh for the final out of the game.

Viar, Cook, Taylor and Smardo accounted for eight of the Saints' 10 total hits in the game, while Landeros and Saldana registered the other two.

Boyle (11-2) gave up six hits to St. Ambrose in the complete game victory, while striking out two batters.

Up Next
The Saints will take the field again tomorrow (March 30) to face St. Ambrose in its final contest of the teams' three-game series.  First pitch is scheduled for 3 pm at the Harlow Lockwood Softball Fields.

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