Saint Xavier University

Crown Point, Ind. – For the sixth consecutive season, and 13^th time in program history, the No. 21 ranked, and top-seeded, Saint Xavier University softball (41-12/26-1 CCAC) won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament Championship after an 8-0 victory in five innings over No. 2 University of St. Francis (Ill.) Friday afternoon at the Crown Point Sportsplex in Crown Point, Ind. It is also the third straight season that the Cougars have won both the regular season and tournament titles. Junior pitcher Lily Strand (Evergreen Park, Ill./Saint Louis/Evergreen Park) tossed her third shutout of the season to earn her 20^th win in the circle (20-7), scattering four hits and recording a strikeout. Senior catcher Morgan Natanek (Palos Heights, Ill./Stagg) paced the offense, collecting four RBI for the second game in a row, going 2-for-3 with a double.

SXU earned an automatic berth into the NAIA Softball National Championship Tournament Opening Round by virtue of the regular season crown, and St. Francis claims the second auto-bid for the CCAC as tournament runner-up. The Opening Round Tournament begins on Monday, May 12.

• Senior outfielder Fiona Crane (Evergreen Park, Ill./Northern Illinois/Mother McAuley) drove in two runs, finishing 1-for-4 from the lead-off spot.
• Senior infielder Mallory O'Connor (Bourbonnais, Ill./Olivet Nazarene/Bishop McNamara) was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk.
• Redshirt sophomore infielder Jazmyn Casas (Berwyn, Ill./Illinois-Chicago/Taft) went 1-for-3 with a run.
• Sophomore designated player Isabelle Poortenga (Dyer, Ind./Lewis/Lake Central) scored three times with no official at-bat, drawing three walks.
• Sophomore outfielder Natalie Gomez (Oak Forest, Ill./Lewis/Tinley Park) had two hits in three at-bats with a pair of runs scored.
• Sophomore infielder Danielle Goodman (Poplar Grove, Ill./North Boone) earned an RBI the hard way, being hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, and she drew a walk coming away with no official at-bat as well.
• Junior infielder Aubrey Wroble (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) was 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Natanek ripped a two-run double to left field to give Saint Xavier a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2^nd.
• In the bottom of the 3^rd Natanek drove in a run on a fielder's choice, Goodman was hit-by-pitch to drive in a run and Crane tallied an RBI on a ground ball back to the pitcher.
• O'Connor, Natanek and Crane each had RBI base hits in the bottom of the 4^th.
• Strand only needed seven pitches in the top of the 5^th, setting the side down in order to clinch the tournament crown.

No. 21 ranked Saint Xavier (41-12/26-1 CCAC) will find out which of the 10 Opening Round locations it will be sent to, allowing with seed and opponent when the NAIA announces the pairings on its YouTube Channel at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, May 6.