April 29, 2011 - Make it six wins in a row and eight in their last ten for the Concordia Cougar softball team after today's 9-0 and 9-2 wins over host Rockford College. The streak could not have come at a better time as the Cougars have moved into sixth place in the Northern Athletics Conference. A sixth-place finish or higher will qualify them for the conference tournament beginning next Thursday.
Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) led the Cougars in the first game with 3-3 at the plate and four RBIs. Concordia was already leading 1-0 on an unearned run in the first when Richards followed Sami DeFord's (South Bend, IN/Marian) bases-loaded single in the third with a two-run shot up the middle for a 5-0 lead.
Richards struck again in the following inning. She came up with the bases loaded and smacked a two-run double to right-center, scoring Clarissa Gieseke (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) and Megan White (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest). Earlier in the inning, White's single had scored Michelle Ciric (DesPlaines, IL/Elk Grove) who reached base on a bunt single.
DeFord hurled her second straight shutout, allowing just two hits over five innings. The sophomore struck out six batters and faced just two batters over the minimum.
In game two, the Regents tallied a run off of Andrea Kelly (Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek) in the first, but the Cougars evened the score in the third on an RBI single by Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek). Rockford answered promptly as Nicole Lawler singled on the 11th pitch of a lengthy at-bat to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.
The score remained at 2-1 until the top of the sixth. A pinch-single by Cassie Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran) generated some momentum for Concordia. The momentum would begin to peak a few batters later when Corinne Kuhn's (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) singled with the bases loaded to tie the score.
The Cougars went on to score seven more runs in the inning, all after two were out. Ciric's walk forced in the lead run, and Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity) followed with a two-run single. Later in the inning, White drove in two runs with a single and DeFord one more with a double. The final run scored on an error, and Concordia went to the bottom of the sixth with a 9-2 lead.
DeFord ensured that the big lead held up. She earned the win in the nightcap too as she pitched the final four innings, allowing just one hit. DeFord finished the game with a scoreless streak of 16 innings.
Concordia (13-18, 11-9 NAC) will face a formidable challenge Saturday afternoon when they travel to Mequon to face Concordia University Wisconsin (24-8, 1503 NAC).
