TUCSON, Ariz. - The Carroll College Softball team picked up a day one split to open up a busy week of action at the Tucson Invitational Games on Saturday, topping College of Saint Mary (Neb.) 9-8, before falling 9-3 to Arizona Christian in their second game.

GAME ONE: Carroll 9 - College of Saint Mary 8

---

The Fighting Saints (2-4) did just enough damage in the middle innings of Saturday's tournament-opener to overcome a shaky first and last inning, holding on for a 9-8 win over the Flames.

Carroll got off to a bit of a rocky start in their first action in the desert, as the Flames took an early 3-0 lead in the top half of the first thanks to a pair of walks and some timely hitting. All-Conference pitcher Kennedy Venner (Billings, Mont. / SR) would settle in nicely, however, allowing only one more run over the next six innings.

Brooke Thompson (Billings, Mont. / JR) plated the first run of the day for the Saints, as her sac fly made good on a leadoff Brynn Notbohm (Miles City, Mont. / SO) double. Sammie Labrum (Kalispell, Mont. / SR) added an RBI single behind her, bringing Carroll within one after one.

College of Saint Mary added one more run in the top of the second to double the lead, but the Saints would take over in the middle innings.

Labrum added her second RBI of the game in the home half of the third, with a sharp triple down the line in right scoring Taylor Sayers (Helena, Mont. / SO) from first.

Notbohm, who went 3-5 for the game, tied things up at 4-4 in the fourth inning with an RBI single to left.

Carroll added a pair of runs in a fifth inning that featured plenty of traffic on the bases. Carlee Smith (Blackfoot, Idaho / JR) blasted an RBI single to left, and Kati Slater (Yamhill, Ore. / SR) drove in one more on a fielders choice with the bases loaded to give the Saints a 6-4 lead heading to the sixth.

Thompson added her second sacrifice fly in the sixth, kick-starting what would be Carroll's biggest frame of the day. Smith once again singled to left, scoring one, and then Riley Simone (Cody, Wyo. / SO) tacked on one more run with a ringing double to the fence in left-center.

Down to their final three outs, the Flames bats came back to life in the seventh. College of Saint Mary strung together a series of hits that found the gaps, featuring both soft and hard contact. A two-out rally saw the Flames pull within one, but the Saints held steady with relief pitcher Mackenzie Depaoli (Fernley, Nev. / JR) getting the final batter to roll over on a soft grounder to short to preserve the 9-8 win.

All said and done, the Saints had their best hitting effort of the young season, recording a season-high 16 hits in the win with five different players recording multiple hits. 

Sammie Labrum was outstanding, going 3-3 with a pair of RBI. Notbohm matched Labrum with three hits, while Sayers, Smith, and Slater each added a pair of hits.

Venner went 6.0 innings, allowing six runs on six hits, while punching out seven in her second win of the year. 

GAME TWO: Arizona Christian 9 - Carroll 3

---

Things weren't as smooth for the Saints in the second leg of the doubleheader, as the Firestorm went coast-to-cost for the 9-3 win.

Arizona Christian jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and never looked back. Following a scoreless second inning, the Firestorm added a pair in the third, then three more runs in the fourth inning to knock Carroll pitcher Mckinley Ermshar (Battleground, Wash. / SO) out of the game with a final line of seven runs (six earned) on eight hits. Kathryn Emmert (Helena, Mont. / SO) came on in relief, giving up a pair of runs on four hits over her two innings of work.

The Saints were held scoreless until the sixth, where they tried to replicate the Flames' late-game comeback from the opener. With the bases loaded and two outs, Riley Simone came up with the break through, a double into center that scored a pair. Demi Lagourgue (Windsor, Calif. / FR) was hit by a pitch to load it back up again, and then Lilly Main (Spokane, Wash. / FR) drew a walk to plate another run. The run ended there, however, as a groundout to third ended the frame. 

Brooke Thompson singled to left in the seventh, but would be stranded at first as the Saints fell 9-3.

Carroll has another pair on deck tomorrow, as they take on Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at 11 a.m., then follow it up with an afternoon tilt against Viterbo (Wis.).