April 22, 2012 - On Senior Day at Concordia University Chicago, the Cougars pulled out one of their most exciting wins of the season, 8-7 over Lakeland College. However, the Cougars' joy was tempered as the Muskies came back with a vengeance in game two, slugging three homers in a 12-2 rout to salvage the split.

Game one started out as a pitchers' duel as neither team dented home plate through the first four innings. Lakeland was the first team to break the ice as they scored two runs in the fifth off of Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian). Two singles began the inning, and Kaitlyn Hoffmann doubled to rightfield to score both runners. DeFord was able to contain the damage as the Cougars caught Hoffmann at home plate later in the inning. A double play ended the inning, keeping the score at 2-0.

Concordia came to bat in the fifth, having just three hits to that point off Lakeland starter Erin Henk. Moira Quinlan (Franklin Park, IL/East Leyden) got things started with a one-out single. Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) and Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek) followed with ground singles to load the bases. Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) made it four straight hits as she singled between third and short for the Cougars' first run. Taylor Golden (Chicago, IL/Trinity) then picked on Henk's first pitch and singled up the middle. Richards and Hires came across as the Cougars grabbed their first lead of the day.

Clarissa Gieseke (Roselle, IL/Lake Park), one of two seniors honored today, raised the excitement level another couple of notches as she hit a towering fly to left-center. The outfielders raced back but finally ran out of room as the ball carried over the fence for a three-run homer, her third of the season and eighth of her career, for a 6-2 lead.

Both offenses continued to roll as the game entered the sixth inning. The first two Muskies reached base, and a bad throw on a sacrifice bunt attempt allowed a run to score. Run-scoring singles by Elizabeth Zimmerman and Heather Haeflinger pulled the Muskies within a run, and Leah Sheahan gave the visitors a 7-6 lead with a double over the head of leftfielder Renee Benjamin (Chicago, IL/Mather).

Down but not defeated, the Cougars made one more comeback. With one out, Richards beat out an infield single. Hires doubled to left, moving Richards to third. With Jensen at bat, Henk uncorked a wild pitch that scored Richards and advanced Hires to third. Jensen struck out for the second out, bringing Golden to the plate. Golden hit a slow grounder to short that was bobbled momentarily. The shortstop recovered quickly and made the strong throw to first, but Golden was racing full-speed down the line and beat the throw as Hires scored the go-ahead run.

Andrea Kelly (Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek) shut down the Muskies in order in the seventh to close out Concordia's thrilling victory. Kelly had come in for DeFord in the sixth, and she picked up the win in relief, her second of the season.

Spirits were high among the Cougar team and its fans following the win and the senior ceremony for Gieseke and Cassie Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran). However, Lakeland put a damper on the festivities in their initial at-bats of game two. Samantha Rieder smacked a three-run homer off Sarah Dec (Norridge, IL/Guerin Prep) to stake the Muskies to the early lead. However, the visitors kept rolling as two singles and a walk loaded the bases. Jenny LaLuzerne then came up and hit a high fly to right. The Cougars could only hope that the ball might hook foul, but it stayed fair by about eight feet for a grand slam and a 7-0 lead.

The Cougars looked to come back against Henk who was back in the pitchers' circle for game two. However, the Cougars could manage just an unearned run in the second and another unearned tally in the fifth after Lakeland had blown the game wide open with a five-run fifth.

Concordia (11-23, 9-11 NAC) will play a pair of non-conference games on Tuesday afternoon at Trinity Christian College in south suburban Palos Heights.