The Saint Xavier softball team has gotten off to a great start this year, winning all of their first six games. The Cougars kicked off the season by participating in the NAIA Leadoff Tournament, which lasted from January 30th to February 1st in Rosemont, Illinois.
Saint Xavier began the tournament by playing the University of Michigan-Dearborn Wolverines. Both teams did not do much through the first three innings, but in the top of the fourth, the Wolverines exploded for four runs to give themselves a 4-0 lead.
From then, the Cougars set out to make a comeback. They started in the bottom half of the inning when catcher Brittany Schultz singled and drove in a run. The Cougars then tied things up in the bottom of the fifth inning, when infielder Allie Maguire hit a single up the middle that scored two runs. Schultz then came up to bat and drove in another run to tie the game up at four.
The Cougars then broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth inning when Sarah Bowen scored a wild pitch. Outfielder Abbie Bailey then hit a double to add on another run, making it 6-4 in favor of SXU. Allison Golic then came on in the top of the seventh inning to close things down and give the Cougars their first win of the season.
After two nice wins against Aquinas College and Cleary University, Saint Xavier played the Madonna University Crusaders.
The Crusaders had high hopes going into this tournament, having been ranked among the top teams in the NAIA. However, those hopes were dashed in the top of the second inning when SXU scored two runs thanks to an error and a double from first baseman Maggie Bailey.
Three more runs from the Cougars in the fourth inning only made things worse for the Crusaders. Saint Xavier successfully shut down the Crusaders offense for the rest of the game and eventually won 5-1. The Cougars improved to 4-0 with the win, while the Crusaders fell to 1-1 with the loss.
After a dominating victory over St. Francis (Ind.), the Cougars wrapped up the NAIA Leadoff Tournament against the Concordia University Cardinals. Saint Xavier entered the game with a 5-0 record while the Cardinals entered with a 3-1 record.
Concordia got on board right away in the first inning thanks to a double from third baseman Megan Laib that scored a run. However, SXU immediately struck back in the bottom half of the inning with a double from second baseman Lexxie Lux and a triple from right fielder Tori Williams that scored three runs.
From there, pitching took care of the rest and the Cougars went on to win 3-1. Saint Xavier improved to 6-0 with the win, while Concordia fell to 3-2 with the loss.
The Cougars will participate in another tournament next week, the SAU Softball in the Snow Winter Dome Tournament, from February 15th to 16th. They’ll play Missouri Valley College, Aquinas College, and Saint Ambrose University of the course of two days in Davenport, Iowa.
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