April 28, 2011 - Concordia-Chicago's softball team endured rain, mud and a 90-minute delay between games of today's doubleheader with the Milwaukee School of Engineering. In the end, however, the results outweighed the hassles as the Cougars notched two crucial wins by 3-2 and 3-0 scores. The wins evened Concordia's Northern Athletics Conference record at 9-9 and pulled them into a tie for sixth-place (and the last conference tournament spot) with idle Marian University.
Both games featured solid pitching performances from Concordia's Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian) and MSOE's Jessica Iversen. In game one, the Cougars struck first as Corinne Kuhn (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) beat out an infield hit. She advanced to second on a passed ball and scored with two out when Clarissa Gieseke (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) lined a double to the right-center gap.
The 1-0 lead held up until the sixth when the Raiders tied the score. Rebecca Gardner drew a leadoff walk. She advanced to third base with two out and scored when Julie Windish lined a single back up the middle.
The visitors then took a 2-1 lead in the seventh. With a runner on second and two out, Iversen placed a single in front of charging leftfielder Andrea Kelly (Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek). Kelly overran the ball momentarily, allowing the runner to round third and come home with the go-ahead tally.
Concordia responded with three great at-bats in their half of the inning. Pinch-hitter Felicity Woodson (Cathedral City, CA/H.S.) led off with a double to the fence in right-center. Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) lined a single to center with Woodson moving up to third. Richards then stole second base to put both runners into scoring position. Two pitches later, Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek) ripped a single to centerfield. The throw home was offline as Woodson and Richards scored to put an exciting victory into the Cougars' column.
Game two began with a scoring threat by the Raiders, but a 4-6-3 double play helped the Cougars out of trouble. Concordia then came to bat and wasted no time in grabbing a quick lead. Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity) cracked her third homerun in the last seven days and fourth of the season for a 1-0 lead.
The Raiders did not go down quietly as they put runners on base in the second and third, and two on in the fifth. However, DeFord rose to the challenge on each occasion and kept the Raiders off the board. The Cougars then gave their pitcher some breathing room as Megan White's (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) single in the bottom of the fifth scored Kuhn and Hires for the three-run lead.
DeFord stifled the visitors over the final two innings to earn the shutout victory. She scattered seven hits while striking out four.
The Cougars (11-18 overall) continue a busy stretch run on Friday, making up Wednesday's rained out doubleheader at Rockford College.
