April 7, 2011 - The Cougar softball team faced a tough foe this afternoon as Carthage College came to River Forest for a doubleheader. Concordia fell behind in both games and fought back to tie, but Carthage would regroup in both games and go on to post victories by 5-3 and 10-4 scores.
The Lady Reds took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game one as they bunched together four hits and an error. However, the Cougars evened things up in the second. Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian) reached on a single in the hole between third and shortstop. One out later, freshman Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity) tagged a 2-1 pitch and hit it on a line to centerfield. The ball hit the top of the fence and bounded over for Golden's first homer of her collegiate career and a 2-2 game.
Carthage regained the lead in their next at-bat. Alyse Mikolas singled off of Cougar pitcher Cassie Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran) to start the inning. Mikolas swiped second base and advanced to third on Stephanie Schafer's single. Carli Irace's sacrifice fly to center scored Mikolas with the go-ahead run.
The visitors added two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Vicki Pyan and Mikolas. Those runs would loom large when the Cougars rallied in the sixth. Clarissa Gieseke (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) and Golden led off with singles. After a force at third for the first out, Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) singled to score Golden and move Sara Bader (Richfield, WI/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) to second. A ground ball to first moved both runners into scoring position, but Alyssa Schrader retired Michelle Ciric (DesPlaines, IL/Elk Grove) on a grounder to short to end the threat and the scoring for the game.
Defense let the Cougars down in game two. After Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the second on Katie Paulmeyer's homer, the Lady Reds added two unearned runs for a 3-0 lead. However, the Cougars fought back with three two-out runs in the second. Bader drove home the first run with a single up the middle. Richards singled, and Corinne Kuhn (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) followed with a ball back to the pitcher that had a tremendous amount of backspin. Kuhn beat the throw to first as Bader crossed the plate. Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek) then tied the game with a line shot in front of the centerfielder to drive home Richards.
A two-run homer by Schrader put Carthage back in front in the third. The visitors added another unearned run before the inning was done, and they put a run on the board in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead.
Kuhn's first homer, a blast to deep left-center, brought the Cougars within 7-4 in the fifth. The Cougars went on to put two more runners aboard. However, Carthage's ace pitcher Krystina Leazer was summoned to end the Cougars' threat and she did just that by striking out Gieseke and retiring Golden on a groundout.
Carthage put the game on ice with three more unearned runs in the seventh. Schafer drove home two of the runs with a two-out single.
The Cougars (5-12) will return to Northern Athletics Conference play on Saturday when they take on Dominican University at the Stars' home field in neighboring Forest Park.
