HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll Softball team split a second-day doubleheader in their weekend series with Eastern Oregon on Saturday, picking up a shutout victory in the conference game between the two teams at Centennial Park.

The Fighting Saints (17-18-1, 10-10) bounced back from a pair of losses on Friday, grabbing the final CCC matchup of the series against the No. 15 Mountaineers to remain in the hunt for the five-seed of the upcoming CCC Championship.

GAME ONE:
A pitchers duel gave way in the late stages in favor of the Saints in the morning contest.

The Saints came out with renewed energy following a pair of shutout losses on Friday, with the team looking highly focused at the plate. Carroll went 6-27 as a team, drawing three walks as well. It wasn't until the penultimate frame that they would be able to cash in on their baserunners, however.

EOU made a pitching change in the fifth inning, and after stranding eight on base through the first five innings, Carroll finally found a way to break through in the sixth.

With the bases loaded, Brookelynn Jackson (Keizer, Ore. / FR) brought home the first run of the game with a slow roller to first base. Kenna Thomas (Belgrade, Mont. / JR) scored another in the next at-bat thanks to an error at short, and Alyssa Lybbert (Las Vegas, Nev. / JR) added the game's final run with a follow-up RBI single.

The birthday girl, Kenndy Venner (Billings, Mont. / SO) added two of her seven total strikeouts in the seventh inning to close out the outstanding shutout performance and even Carroll's CCC record at 10-10.

GAME TWO:
Head Coach Shawna Juarez tinkered with the lineup in the non-conference final game of the series, and the Saints were done in by a big third inning by the Mountaineers.

EOU grabbed the first run of the game in the top of the first, as Truh Merriman brought home one on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded.

Two pitching changes later, the Mounties would pile it on in the third. Karly Hanoski, Madelyn Durham, and Maddy Stateler recorded three straight RBI singles. Haley Tyree added an RBI double, Katelynn Evans picked up an RBI single, and then an error led to a seven-run frame, and EOU would lead 8-0.

Morgan Sunchild (Great Falls, Mont. / SO) got one back for the Saints in the bottom half of the third, knocking an RBI single into the outfield and advancing further on a throwing error on the play in to bring the game to 8-1.

Eastern responded in the next frame. An error allowed one run to cross, followed by a sac fly from Stateler and an RBI single from Addison Ribordy to give the Mountaineers an 11-1 lead.

Carlee Smith (Blackfoot, Idaho / FR) blasted a solo shot to left center field in the bottom of the fourth, but Carroll couldn't chip away at the lead any further and the Saints would lose 11-2.

Tomorrow morning at 11 a.m., the Saints will square off with College of Idaho in a make-up game from their series back in February as the Yotes return home from a trip to Great Falls the past two days.

Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a recap of that game, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.