The OLLU Saints softball team split a doubleheader with Evangel University from Springfield, Miss., Tuesday afternoon, 7-3 and 3-12. The results of the nonconference games put the Saints at 13-5 overall for the season. The Crusaders, who are 5-6 overall, have not played a conference game this year, but last year finished first in the NAIA Division I Heart of America Athletic Conference with a record of 17-3.

Starting for the Saints in batting order were Andrea Porter at centerfield, Corina Noel at leftfield, Bianca Salinas at third base, Brook Hernandez at first base, Dawn Villegas as designated player, Tiffany Stritz at pitcher, Ashley Elizalde at second base, Meagan Potts at right field and Maria Flores at shortstop. Kaitlyn Bourg started as catcher and Melanie Gonzalez relieved Stritz as pitcher.

Batting first for the Crusaders was Sarah Doyle, who after one strike, hit the ball to centerfield for a double. Brittney Bagley singled to the pitcher's mound, and Kendra Corbin singled to short. Flores tagged Bagley out on a throw to Elizalde. A double by Hannah Sommers brought in Doyle for the game's first run. Megan Cairns flied out to short to end the inning with the Crusaders leading 1-0.

The Saints had no hits or runs, but left Noel on base for the bottom of the first inning. The top of the second inning resulted in one hit by Kasey Spencer, who was left on base after groundouts by Chelsea Preaus, Danielle Luebke and Kari Tall-Domingos.

During the third inning, the Saints were able to put two runs on the board on a homerun by Salinas that also brought in Noel. The fourth inning remained scoreless, and the Saints came up with five runs during the fifth inning. Porter started it out with a single to left, and Noel followed with a single in the infield. Salinas shot a hit out into leftfield, and a hit from Hernandez brought in Porter for the first run. Villegas hit one to the shortstop, reached first, but Noel was tagged out. With Porter, Noel and Villegas on base, Stritz came up to hit a grand slam to centerfield. The inning ended with the Saints leading 7-1.

The Crusaders were able to score two runs in the sixth inning but the Saints finished with the 7-3 win. Stritz got the win and Gonzalez was credited with the save. Ashley Harris got the loss for the Crusaders.

The Crusaders started the second game with hits from Doyle and Bagley and a home run by Somers to take a quick 3-0 lead. Kailyn Miller started at pitcher and was called for a balk and Flores bobbled a hit to end the inning with three runs, four hits and one error. Noel reached the base after an error on Tori Sizemore. Salinas reached first on a bobble by shortstop Danielle Luebke. Stritz hit to centerfield brought in Noel and Salinas and a strikeout by Elizalde ended the inning with the Saints trailing 2-3.

The fifth inning resulted in four runs scored by the Crusaders and during the sixth inning, the team from Missouri produced an additional five runs to give them the 12-2 lead. The Saints were able to score one more run. Bourg (shown at right) came in after an error on Cairns on Porter's hit. The game ended with the Saints losing 12-3. Sizemore got the win for the Crusaders, while Miller suffered the loss.