No. 6 Seed Olivet Nazarene, Mother Nature Create Havoc On First Day of Softball Tournament
CROWN POINT, Ind. — A battle with Mother Nature not to mention a 14-inning marathon made for a long first day that did not get finished at the 2024 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament.
Top-seeded Saint Xavier University (25-12) had an easy go-of-it with an 8-0, five-inning victory over No. 4 seed Trinity Christian College, which won its first game by a 5-3 count over No. 5 St. Ambrose University. The only other game that was completed turned out to be a double-game with No. 6 Olivet Nazarene upsetting No. 3 Roosevelt University 6-5 in 14 innings.
The length of the latter contest combined with a downpour right before the start of the University of St. Francis-Olivet Nazarene matchup pushed that contest to noon on Friday with a pair of games to follow at 3 and 5 pm.
Recapping Thursday:
Trinity Christian 5, St. Ambrose 3
Trinity Christian (23-25) scored five unanswered runs over the middle innings to rally from an initial 2-0 deficit. Kamryn Koontz was in the thick of it with two hits and three runs batted in. Myleigh Halmon (7-8) registered the win with Abbey Kuehner collecting the save. Mackenzie Stiewe had two hits and two runs batted in for St. Ambrose (19-26).
Olivet Nazarene 6, Roosevelt 5 — 14 Innings
A pair of errors led to an unearned run in the bottom of the 14th inning enabling Olivet Nazarene (13-24) to finally break the eight-inning deadlock and gain the upset win. The Tigers led 4-0 after the first three innings before Roosevelt (16-21) rallied with two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth inning to force a five-all tie. ONU’s top five batters in the lineup combined for 14 of its 15 hits. Ali Fullingim led the way with her 5-for-7, 2-RBI game. Allie Timm drove in another three runs with a pair of hits. She also worked 8 1/3 scoreless innings in the circle to earn the win. Emily Zuniga led Roosevelt with three hits and two runs batted in.
Saint Xavier 8, Trinity Christian 0
Saint Xavier made quick work of its first game of the tournament, scoring its eight runs over the first three innings. Haley Matlock went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in. Kaitlyn Wright drove in another two. Laila Summers (17-6) tossed the shutout.
The complete schedule and results follow:
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Game #1: No. 4 Trinity Christian 5, No. 5 St. Ambrose 3 (19-25)
Game #2: No. 6 Olivet Nazarene 6, No. 3 Roosevelt 5
Game #3: No. 1 seed Saint Xavier 8, No. 4 Trinity Christian 0
Friday, May 5, 2023
Game #4: No. 6 Olivet Nazarene (13-24) vs. No. 2 seed St. Francis (26-12) — 12 pm
Game #5: No. 3 Roosevelt (16-21) vs. No. 4 Trinity Christian (23-25) — 3 pm
Game #6: No. 5 St. Ambrose (19-26) vs. Loser-Game #4 — 3 pm
Game #7: No. 1 seed Saint Xavier (25-12) vs. Winner-Game #4 — 5 pm
Game #8: Winner-Game #5 vs. Winner-Game #6 — 5 pm
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Game #9: Loser-Game #7 vs. Winner-Game #8 — 1 pm
Game #10: Winner-Game #7 vs. Winner-Game #9 — 3 pm (Championship)
Game #11: Winner-Game #10 vs. Loser-Game #10 — 5 pm (If necessary)
