April 17, 2011 - A 17-hit attack powered by seven extra-base hits led the Concordia Cougar softball team to a 13-5 win over host Lakeland College in game one of Sunday's Northern Athletics Conference doubleheader. The Muskies came back to salvage a split with a 4-3 win in the nightcap.
Game one featured no homers, but the Cougars cracked three doubles and accomplished the rare feat of four triples, two each by
Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek) and
Megan White (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest). Hires' first triple came in the fourth inning and scored
Felicity Woodson (Cathedral City, CA/H.S.) for a 4-2 lead. The Cougars had overcome an early 2-0 deficit the previous inning on RBI singles by
Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity), Cassie Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran) and
Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian).
After Lakeland got one run back to come within 4-3, Concordia rattled off five runs in the fifth. Two runs scored on errors, and Woodson,
Corinne Kuhn (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) and
Michelle Ciric (DesPlaines, IL/Elk Grove) all drove in runs with base hits.
White led off the sixth with her second triple of the game as the Cougars went looking for more.
Clarissa Gieseke's (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) single brought home the run, and Woodson followed with a double to score Gieseke. Hires found the gap for her second triple to drive home Woodson, and Hires later scored on a wild pitch to put the Cougars up 10 runs. Lakeland pulled back two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the game ended on the eight-run rule when Slechta threw out an attempted base stealer and DeFord got the third out on a ground ball to second base.
In game two, the Cougars fell behind 2-0 but once again overcame it with a three-run third.
Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) led off with a double and scored on Ciric's single. Ciric then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Golden singled to plate Ciric and tie the game, and Slechta's double moments later brought Golden around to give Concordia a 3-2 lead.
Unfortunately, this lead would not hold up. Lakeland tied the game with a single run in the fourth and then scored what would turn out to be the winning run in the sixth on three straight hits. The Cougars tried to rally in the seventh as Hires reached on a two-out single, but the Muskies' pitcher retired White on a foul pop to the catcher to put an end to the doubleheader action.
The Cougars (6-17, 4-8 NAC) will host the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Tuesday at 3:00.
