CHICAGO – The Saint Xavier University softball team (24-12/12-4 CCAC) swept its Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) doubleheader with Olivet Nazarene University with a 7-3 victory in game one and an 8-0 triumph in five innings in game to claim the CCAC regular season title Saturday afternoon at the SXU Softball Field in Chicago, Ill. The Cougars finished in a tie for first place with University of St. Francis (Ill.) with each school sporting a 12-4 record in conference play, however with SXU winning both games of the head-to-head match-up on April 7 they earn the No. 1 seed in the CCAC Tournament next week in Crown Point, Ind. Saint Xavier has now won 17 regular season championships, including two of the last three after winning outright in 2022.

In between games, sophomore infielder Kaitlyn Wright (Chicago, Ill./Marist) was presented her NFCA-NAIA Rawlings Gold Glove in a short ceremony by the coaching staff after she was an inaugural member of the nine-player team in 2023.

Game One:

• Sophomore catcher Morgan Natanek (Palos Heights, Ill./Stagg) was 1-for-2 with three RBI, a double and a walk.
• Senior infielder Alexus Reese (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) belted a two-run home run and finished 1-for-3.
• Wright doubled, scored twice and had an RBI while going 2-for-3.
• Senior infielder Brooke Koran (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East) collected two hits in four at-bats.
• Sophomore outfielder Haley Matlock (Indianapolis, Ind./Southport) went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk.
• Senior pitcher Laila Summers (Joliet, Ill./Providence Catholic) improved her record to 16-6 after tossing a complete game with 7.0 innings, five hits, three runs (one earned), a walk and two strikeouts.
• The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2^nd on an RBI groundout.
• Wright tied the game in the bottom of the 3^rd with a sacrifice fly and an error allowed junior pinch runner Julia Czart (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) to give the Cougars a 2-1 advantage.
• An RBI single by ONU tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the 4^th.
• Natanek scored Wright on a sac fly to put SXU up 3-2 in the bottom of the 5^th.
• Olivet Nazarene re-tied the game in the top of the 6^th on an RBI single off the glove of Summers.
• Reese slugged a two-run home run over the wall in left center and Natanek lined a two-run double to center to make it 7-3 in the bottom of the 6^th.

Game Two:

• Freshman outfielder Aubrey Wroble (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) was 3-for-3 with two runs, an RBI, a stolen base and a walk.
• Matlock finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
• Sophomore designated player Taylor Becker (Alsip, Ill./Shepard) smacked a two-run double and was 1-for-3.
• Junior outfielder Maddi Stahulak (Manhattan, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
• Reese clubbed a home run and was 1-for-2 with a walk.
• Wright also was 1-for-2 with an RBI, a run and a steal.
• Junior pitcher Julianne Claas (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Hamilton) tossed her first shutout of the season, working 5.0 innings and allowing just three hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
• Wright opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 1^st.
• Wroble sliced an RBI single down the third-base line to push the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the 2^nd.
• Reese hammered her fifth home run of the season over the left center field wall and junior infielder Abbie Carr (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) lined an RBI to right field to make it 4-0 in the bottom of the 3^rd.
• In the bottom of the 4^th, Becker laced a two-run double to the gap in right center to give SXU a 6-0 lead.
• An error allowed a run to score after Wroble legged out an infield single and she motored into second base. Matlock hit an RBI single back up the middle to end the game in the next at-bat.

Saint Xavier (24-12/12-4 CCAC) earns the No. 1 seed in the CCAC Tournament that starts on Thursday, May 2 in Crown Point, Ind. Opponent and time are TBA.