April 11, 2012 - With eight of the next ten games on the home field, the Concordia Cougars feel that the time is now to make their push to move up in the Northern Athletics Conference standings. The Cougars made a good beginning with a sweep of visiting Wisconsin Lutheran College this afternoon by scores of 8-0 and 10-1 (both games shortened to five innings by the slaughter rule). The wins improved Concordia's record to 6-6 in conference play, 8-18 overall.
The Cougars used the long ball to record the first-game win. After a first-inning single by Cassie Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran) put the Cougars on the board, Clarissa Geiseke (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) led off the second with a double halfway up the fence in left-center. She advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Sami DeFord's (South Bend, IN/Marian) sacrifice fly. But the Cougars were not done yet. Renee Benjamin (Chicago, IL/Mather) doubled to straightaway leftfield, her shot also hitting the fence about halfway up. Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) was next up, and she got enough height on her shot to right to clear it for a two-run homer and a 4-0 lead.
An RBI groundout by Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) and a wild pitch gave Concordia two more runs in the third. With two outs in the fourth, Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek) hit a line shot over the fence in right for the Cougars' second round-tripper of the game and a 7-0 lead.
Concordia ended the first game with a single tally in the fifth. Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity) reached base on a dropped fly ball in rightand stole second base. Slechta then grounded a single up the middle with Golden beating the throw home as the Cougars closed out an 8-0 victory.
DeFord was in complete control in recording her fifth win of the year. She retired the first 10 batters before Dayan Gacgacao lined a single just out of the reach of second baseman Moira Quinlan (Franklin Park, IL/East Leyden). DeFord got a double play on the next batter and retired the side in the fifth to finish with a one-hit shutout.
The Cougars quickly put game two out of reach with four runs in each of the first two innings. Hires led off with a double to the rightfield corner. With two out, Slechta walked to extend the inning. Jensen followed with a looping double over the first baseman's head to score Hires. Geiseke made it back-to-back doubles as her shot to the right-center gap scored Slechta and Jensen. DeFord's single up the middle capped the inning and gave the Cougars a 4-0 lead.
Fittingly, the lead doubled in the second inning. Jensen went down the rightfield line for her second double in as many at-bats, and Gieseke's two-run single moments later upped the home team's lead to 8-0.
A leadoff single by Wisconsin Lutheran in the fourth led to the visitors' only run of the day. The Warriors loaded the bases after an error and a walk, and the next batter lofted a fly to center. Hires' throw home was not in time to nail the runner, but a quick throw to third caught the runner coming from second. Golden then whipped a throw to second with the Cougars coming within a hair of turning the triple play. However, Sarah Dec (Norridge, IL/Guerin Prep) retired the next batter on a grounder to short, leaving the score at 8-1.
The Cougars answered the run with two of their own. Slechta's safety squeeze scored Mallory Kiel (Columbus, IN/Columbus East) who had reached on an error and moved to third on Golden's double. Moments later, Jensen's single up the middle scored Golden for a 10-1 lead.
Dec retired the side in order in the fifth to close out the Cougars' sweep. Dec improved to 2-1 on the season, allowing just the one hit while striking out a pair of batters.
Concordia will host Rockford College in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
