April 7, 2012 - On a bright, crisp spring afternoon in Milwaukee, it was the pitchers that dominated today's Northern Athletics Conference softball doubleheader between Concordia University Chicago and Alverno College. The Cougars outlasted the Inferno 3-2 in game one behind a solid performance by Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian), but the Inferno leveled things with a 3-1 win in the nightcap.
Alverno's game one starter Erin Dulak retired the first seven Cougar hitters, but Renee Benjamin (Chicago, IL/Mather) wasted no time in breaking Dulak's momentum. Benjamin drove the first pitch over the wall in leftfield for her first homer of the season and a 1-0 lead.
DeFord held the lead until the fourth when the Inferno got two-out RBI hits from Ashleigh Sagat and Roxanne Kresmer to take a 2-1 lead.
The home team held the lead until the top of the seventh. With one out, Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) reached on a walk. Clarissa Gieseke (Roselle, IL/Lake Park) grounded out, but Jensen moved into scoring position to give DeFord an RBI opportunity. DeFord then doubled to the wall in left, scoring Jensen and extending the game.
Neither team scored in the eighth, but Cassie Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran) led off the ninth with a single to right. Pinch-runner Tracy Bonaccorsi (Lombard, IL/Montini Catholic) moved to second on a sacrifice by Jensen but remained there as Dulak recorded the second out. However, DeFord came through once again with a clutch single to left, scoring Bonaccorsi with the lead run. DeFord then shut down the side in the bottom of the inning to give Concordia an exciting first-game victory.
The Cougars looked to complete the sweep, and they came through with the first run of game two. Again, the combination of Slechta and DeFord delivered the goods as DeFord's single drove home pinch-runner Moira Quinlan (Franklin Park, IL/East Leyden) after Slechta had singled to start the second inning.
With one out in the fourth, a walk and single put Cougar pitcher Sarah Dec (Norridge, IL/Guerin Prep) into a jam. Stef Wilmore brought home both runners with a double, and Sagat followed with another double to give Alverno the 3-1 lead.
The Cougars were unable to recover, stranding two runners in the fifth and leaving the bases loaded in the sixth. Jamie Villalobos held Concordia to five hits over the first six innings, and Dulak came in to record the save after the Cougars' first batter of the seventh reached on an error.
Concordia (6-18, 4-4 NAC) will host Wisconsin Lutheran College on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00.
