BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – In their final series of the regular season, the Olivet Nazarene University softball team was overpowered in a doubleheader loss to conference champions No. 17 Saint Xavier Saturday afternoon at Tiger Field.

The Tigers fell behind early in both games and could not recover, falling 8-4 in the opener before suffering a 9-2 setback in the season finale.

The Cougars (33-6, 16-0 CCAC), who had already clinched the CCAC title outright heading into the series, pounced on ONU for seven runs across the first two innings to take command of game one.

Meegan Randall got the Tigers on the board when she dropped a bunt to bring home Autumn Adamik on a squeeze play in the bottom of the second. Shylar Boze added to the frame when she wheeled home on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to five.

The game deadlocked at 7-2 over the next three innings until Boze roped an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the sixth. After SXU got the run back in the seventh, Randall added another tally when she scored on a wild pitch.

But that was all the Tigers could muster in the 8-4 setback. Olivia Saldana was tagged with the loss as the ONU starter, going the distance while only allowing three earned runs.

The nightcap followed a similar script, with Saint Xavier quickly scratching across four runs in the first two innings. Kahiwa Ili and Boze lifted RBI singles in the bottom of the third to get ONU within two, but those were the only two runs they could get across as the Cougars ran away with the win.

The Tigers will now turn their attention to the postseason, with the CCAC Tournament set to begin next week in Crown Point, Ind.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu