SURPRISE, ARIZ. - The OUAZ softball team had an opportunity to pull even in its four game series with Taylor University on Saturday, but ultimately fell twice at Willow Canyon High School. This drops the Spirit to 0-4 for the first time in program history.

Game 1: Taylor 5, OUAZ 1

The offense went quiet to start the afternoon, as OUAZ could only muster a run and two hits. Briana Tucker recorded the team's RBI, bringing home Heliana Bueno in the bottom of the second. Andraya Rhinehart recorded a single to lead off the bottom of the third, and that was the final hit of game one at Willow Canyon High School.

Taylor scratched across three runs in its half of the third inning, and then tacked on two more in the fifth. Lauren Kanai and Ashton Whitman each knocked in two runs, and Kristin Mihalic finished 3-4 with and RBI. Maddi Evans struck out nine in her third win of the season.

Game 2: Taylor 10, OUAZ 8

The Trojans extended its offense into game two, putting up six runs in the top of the first. All of those runs were unearned toward Spirit pitching because of a two-out error by Rhinehart. Taylor's run in the fourth was also unearned.

Despite being down 6-0 before they could even hit, the Spirit responded with four runs in the bottom of the first to pull within two. After a pair of walks and a hit batter, Rhinehart scored on a passed ball, the Janessa Rivera brought home Mashayla Beltran and Charlene De Anda with a double. Rivera eventually scored thanks to a Jaymie Moore two-out single.

The Spirit took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the second, in large part due to Tucker's 2-RBI single. The teams traded runs in the fourth before a single run in the sixth, and two in the seventh, gave Taylor the 10-8 lead.

Nikki Ayala singled in the bottom of the seventh, but Evans came in to slam the door on the Spirit for her first save of the season. Alexandra McCutcheon was charged with the loss despite a solid 6.1 innings in relief, finishing with six strikeouts.

The middle of the order produced a majority of the offense in game two. The 3-7 spots produced five of the seven hits, and batted in all seven runs. Tucker finished with three RBIs, and Rivera knocked in her first two in an OUAZ uniform.

The Spirit will have a shot at its first win on Monday when they take on College of Idaho in a doubleheader. The first game from Willow Canyon High School is scheduled for 11am Arizona Time.