The Xavier softball team did some very good things during its doubleheader against Linn-Mar Tuesday night, but the bottom line unfortunately was the same story for the struggling Saints.

Linn-Mar swept the Mississippi Valley Conference games, 2-1 and 10-5, leaving Xavier with an eight-game losing streak and an unsightly overall record of 7-19.

Maria Steffen pitched a strong game for the Saints in the opener and deserved a better fate, but the Xavier right-fielder lost a fly ball in the sun to give Morgan Braughton a gift triple in the fourth inning and the Lions promptly scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to snap a 1-1 tie.

The Saints put runners at first and third with one out in the top of the seventh, but Braughton struck out the next two batters to finish a complete game and the victory.

Christina Lincoln and Braughton had two hits for Linn-Mar in the opener.

Cassie Himmelsbach and Olivia Richards socked solo home runs for Xavier in the second game and the score was tied, 5-5, heading into the bottom of the fourth, but the Lions scored two runs in the fourth and added three more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

Himmelsbach had a double, home run and three RBIs for Xavier in the nightcap. Charlotte Richards also had two hits.

Linn-Mar second baseman Ally Johnson went 3-for-3 with three doubles, a walk and four runs scored in the second game. Ellison Ollinger had two hits for the Lions.

Linn-Mar played flawless defense in the twinbill and did not commit a single error. The Lions raised their records to 15-11 overall and 10-7 in the conference.

Xavier fell to 5-13 in the league.