April 21, 2012 - The Concordia Cougars looked to be on their way to a split of today's Northern Athletics Conference doubleheader against Marian University. Marian won game one 4-2, but effective pitching and timely hitting had the Cougars in good shape in the nightcap with a 3-1 lead after five innings. But, faster than the weather can change in Chicago, the Sabres pounded out nine runs on 10 hits in the sixth and completed the sweep with an 11-4 victory.
Marian's Lea Schaller led off the sixth with a base hit. Aubrey O'Brien then singled to short rightfield. Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian) threw quickly to first. A very close play at first went to the runner, putting two aboard with no out. Emilie Jansen followed with a sharp double to right that scored both runners to tie the game at 3-3. One out later, Molly Sippel's single scored the go-ahead run, and Nikki Ponticelli followed with a home run to center for a 6-3 lead. The Sabres went on to add four more in the inning, the final two coming on a pair of two-out hits.
Concordia had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on some alert baserunning by Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek). She led off with a hit and was on second with two out when DeFord grounded to third. The throw to first was high and trickled away just a short distance, but Hires kept coming around third and beat the throw to the plate.
Marian evened the score in the fourth, but Concordia reclaimed the lead quickly. Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) bunted for a hit and later scored as Moira Quinlan (Franklin Park, IL/East Leyden) lined a single down the rightfield line.
The Cougars manufactured a run in the fifth. Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity) led off with a laser to right-center that hit off the fence for a double. DeFord moved her to third with a groundout, and Clarissa Gieseke (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) hit a deep fly to center that allowed Golden to score easily for the 3-1 lead.
Sarah Dec (Norridge, IL/Guerin Prep) retired the first 11 batters but took the loss. She was charged with five of the Sabres' runs over 6 1/3 total innings.
Earlier in game one, Marian scored a run in the first before adding three in the fifth. An error led to all three runs in the fifth against DeFord going as unearned.
The Cougars rallied in the sixth as Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) led off with an infield hit. Two out later with Richards on third, Golden slapped a single up the middle to put Concordia on the board. Slechta followed with a shot off the pitcher's leg for a hit. DeFord then lined a single to center. Golden scored from second, and both Slechta and DeFord moved up a base on the throw home to put the tying run in scoring position. However, Gieseke was retired on a grounder to third, and the Cougars went 1-2-3 in the seventh to fall short by two runs.
Concordia returns to action Sunday at noon as they host Lakeland College. It will be Senior Day for the team as they honor Gieseke and Slechta between games of the doubleheader.
