Both teams hit the ball well Tuesday night, but only one caught it and threw it well.

Xavier beat Prairie, 5-3 and 12-7, to sweep a Mississippi Conference softball doubleheader at Prairie.

Prairie (8-28, 6-20) out-hit Xavier (23-17, 15-11) in the opener, 11-6, but the Hawks also committed six errors.

“They outplayed us tonight,” explained Prairie Coach Kimi Hynek. “They played excellent defense and that was the difference maker in both games.”

Jenna Schulte and Morgan Breitbach each had two hits in game one for the Saints, while Brittney Lash and Aly O’Brian each garnered two hits for the Hawks.

“It felt good tonight because I haven’t been hitting as well as I would like,” said Breitbach, who came back and got two more hits in the nightcap.  “I just tried to hit it where it was pitched.”

Game two saw Xavier put up five first-inning runs on three hits and four Prairie errors.

Erin Drahozal and Hayley Deutmeyer joined Breitbach with two hits in game two for the Saints.  Lash, Malia Gudenkauf, and Olivia Usher each picked up two hits for Prairie.

“They were pitching me inside-outside and I went deep in the count each at-bat so I was able to expect a good pitch to hit,” explalined Lash.

Despite scattering 22 hits, Xavier saw Jacey Wiebold and Drahozal pick up complete game victories behind error free defense.

“We stayed fairly focused," said Xavier interim coach Nikki Price.  “We kept working hard on defense and attacking on offense.”

Prairie's next game is a Class 5A regional semifinal Saturday at Waterloo East. Xavier hosts a Class 4A semifinal Saturday against either Marion or Dubuque Wahlert.

GAME ONE

XAVIER (5)
Schwach 2b, 4 1 1 1, Galligan lf, 4 1 0 0, Feltes 3b, 3 0 0 0, Schulte 1b, 4 1 2 1, Drahozal dh, 4 0 1 1, Wiebold p, 0 0 0 0, Duetmeyer ss, 4 0 0 0, Breitbach rf, 4 1 2 0, Miller c, 1 0 0 0, Colston cf, 3 1 0 0. Totals 31 5 6 3.

PRAIRIE (3)
Lash cf, 3 1 2 1, T.Stecklein 2b, 4 0 1 0, O’Brian c, 4 0 2 1, Meyer cr, 0 0 0 0, Rumer dh, 4 1 1 0, A.Stecklein ss, 0 0 0 0, Kuch p, 4 0 1 1, Stevenson 3b, 3 0 1 0, Gudenkauf 1b, 3 1 1 0, C.Lueck lf, 3 0 1 0, Mumaw rf, 2 0 1 0. Totals 30 3 11 3.

Xavier         003 002 0 --  5  6  0
Prairie         001 110 0 --  3 11 6

Wiebold and Miller. Kuch and O’Brian W - Wiebold L - Kuch 2B - Drahozal, Rumer.

GAME TWO

XAVIER (12)
Schwach 2b, 5 1 1 0, Galligan dh, 5 1 1 0, Ireland lf, 0 0 0 0, Drahozal p, 5 2 2 1, Schulte 1b, 4 2 1 0, Duetmeyer ss, 3 2 2 0, Breitbach rf, 4 2 2 3, Miller c, 3 2 1 2, Colston cf, 3 0 1 1. Totals 36 12 12 7.

PRAIRIE (7)
Lash cf, 3 1 2 1, T.Stecklein 2b, 4 1 1 1, O’Brian c, 3 0 1 1, Rumer dh, 3 1 0 0, A.Stecklein ss, 0 0 0 0, Kuch p, 1 1 1 0, Stevenson p, 2 0 0 0, Usher 3b, 4 1 2 0, Gudenkauf 1b, 3 2 2 2, C.Lueck lf, 3 0 0 0, Mumaw rf, 1 0 1 1, H.Lueck rf, 3 0 1 0. Totals 30 7 11 6.

Xavier         503 310 0 --  12 12 0
Prairie         020 212 0 --   7 11  5

Drahozal and Miller.  Kuch, Stevenson (2), Kuch (4) and O’Brian. W - Drahozal. L - Kuch.  2B - Lash, Usher, Gudenkauf 2.  3B - Breitbach. SB - Drahozal, Duetmeyer, Gudenkauf, H.Lueck.