Williamsburg, Ky. – The No. 2 seeded Saint Xavier University softball team (41-13/26-1 CCAC) lost 5-4 in nine innings to No. 3 and host University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) in the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round Williamsburg (Ky.) Bracket Monday afternoon in Williamsburg, Ky. Sophomore infielder
Danielle Goodman (Poplar Grove, Ill./North Boone) collected two RBIs, going 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. Junior pitcher
Lily Strand (Evergreen Park, Ill./Saint Louis/Evergreen Park) went the distance (20-8), tossing 9.0 innings with nine hits, five runs (three earned), four walks and four strikeouts.
Senior outfielder
Haley Matlock (Indianapolis, Ind./Southport) tied a program milestone with a base hit leading off the top of bottom of the 9
th, giving her 86 on the season. She joins SXU Hall of Famer, and 2006 NAIA Softball Player of the Year, Colleen Kilduff (2003-06) who also had 86 hits in 2006. Matlock was 2-for-5 in the game and is hitting .503 on the season (86-for-171).
- Senior infielder Mallory O'Connor (Bourbonnais, Ill./Olivet Nazarene/Bishop McNamara) went 2-for-5 with an and a triple.
- Redshirt sophomore infielder Jazmyn Casas (Berwyn, Ill./Illinois-Chicago/Taft) doubled with a run scored and a walk, going 2-for-3.
- Senior outfielder Fiona Crane (Evergreen Park, Ill./Northern Illinois/Mother McAuley) tallied two hits in five at-bats with a run, her team-leading 77th of the season.
- Junior infielder Aubrey Wroble (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) had two hits in four trips to the plate.
- Crane scored on a fielding error in the bottom of the 1st to give Saint Xavier a 1-0 lead.
- The Patriots tied the game in the top of the 5th with a two-out, RBI single.
- Goodman laced a two-run double to right field to put the Cougars up 3-1 in the bottom of the 6th.
- UC rallied to take the lead in the top of the 7th on three RBI singles
- Casas smashed a double off the wall in left center, and she scored the tying run after an error in the bottom of the 7th.
- An SXU miscue brought in a run for Cumberlands in the top of the 9th.
- Saint Xavier put the tying, and winning runs, on base in the bottom of the 9th but was unable to cash in.
No. 2 seed Saint Xavier (41-13/26-1 CCAC) plays No. 5 Oakland City University (Ind.) in the elimination bracket on Tuesday, May 12 in the NAIA Opening Round Williamsburg (Ky.) Bracket. The game is scheduled for a 11:00 am central first pitch. With a win, SXU will play again later in the afternoon at 4:00 pm central.