SURPRISE, Ariz. - The Carroll Softball team dropped their final two games of a marathon week in Arizona, falling 4-7 and 0-8 to Ottawa (Ariz.) on Saturday.

The Fighting Saints (2-6) couldn't find a way to steal a win on their final day in Arizona, dropping a pair of games to OUAZ.

A late comeback effort in the first game would come up short for the Saints.

OUAZ picked up one run in the bottom of the first, and a pitchers' duel would follow for the next five innings.

Kennedy Venner (Billings, Mont. / SO) went 5.2 innings with seven strikeouts, but a big sixth inning for the Spirit would spell trouble for Carroll.

OUAZ added six runs to their tally in the sixth inning, extending their lead heading into the final frame to 7-0.

Layne Bauer (Missoula, Mont. / SR) put the Saints on the board in the seventh with an RBI double. Brookelynn Jackson (Keizer, Ore. / FR) followed up with an RBI single to bring the score to 7-2. A Morgan Sunchild (Great Falls, Mont. / SO) double would score two more to bring the score to 7-4, but the sun would set on the Saints' comeback effort, and OUAZ would walk out with the early game win.

The second game of the day, and eighth in the last four days, would not be kind to the Saints.

A four-hit effort from Carroll would lead to a scoreless afternoon (4-20).

Three different Carroll pitchers would have a hard time slowing the Spirit down, as they picked up eight runs on 11 hits in a run-rule 8-0 win that ended in five.

The Saints will now return home to Helena and begin preparation for the grueling CCC regular season, with the conference opening series taking place in Caldwell next month.

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