April 5, 2011 - Megan White (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) homered in both ends of this afternoon's doubleheader, and pitchers Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian) and Andrea Kelly (Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek) held the host Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors in check in leading the Concordia Cougars to a pair of wins by identical 6-1 scores.
White gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead in the second inning of game one with her second round-tripper of the season. The Warriors matched that run in the fourth inning, scoring on a wild pitch. However, DeFord worked out of the jam by snaring a line drive right back at her to leave two runners in scoring position.
Concordia regained the lead in the fifth with help from some shaky fielding by the hosts. Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek) led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third as the shortstop mishandled the throw from the catcher. Michelle Ciric (DesPlaines, IL/Elk Grove) then singled to score Hires for a 2-1 lead. DeFord reached on an error, and Cassie Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran) followed with the big hit of the inning, a two-run double. A dropped fly in leftfield allowed Slechta to score with two out and put Concordia up by a 5-1 score.
The Cougars added a little insurance in the seventh on singles by Slechta, Laura Hunte (Momence, IL/H.S.) and Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity). DeFord then closed out a fine game one performance in which she allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out nine.
In game two, a two-out double in the second inning by Sara Bader (Richfield, WI/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) scored Golden who had reached on an error. The lead increased to 2-0 in the third as Ciric singled and scored on Slechta's second two-bagger of the day.
The pattern repeated itself in the fifth as Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) singled. She was replaced on base by Ciric on a force play before White doubled to make the score Cougars 3, Warriors 0.
Concordia put the game away in the sixth on DeFord's single and Clarissa Gieseke's (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) first homer of the year. White added her second round-tripper of the day in the seventh for a 6-0 lead before Morgan Dittmar spoiled Kelly's shutout bid with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning. The next two batters reached base n an error and base hit before DeFord returned to the pitching circle. She promptly retired the next three batters to give the Cougars the sweep.
Kelly earned her second win of the year with six-plus innings of four-hit ball. The freshman struck out three and did not walk a batter.
Concordia (5-10, 3-3 NAC) will host Carthage College on Thursday afternoon in a 3:00 doubleheader.
