April 25, 2013 - Heading into a final stretch of crucial Northern Athletics Conference softball games, the Concordia Cougars looked to move closer to locking up one of six berths in next weekend's NAC tournament with today's doubleheader at Wisconsin Lutheran College. The Cougars pulled out an exciting 2-1 win in game one, but the Warriors came from behind to take game two by an 8-5 score.

Wisconsin Lutheran took an early 1-0 lead in game one. A leadoff walk turned into a run with the help of a fielder's choice and an error. A bases-loaded walk brought the runner in to score, but Sami DeFord (South Bend, IN/Marian) got two infield outs to escape further damage.

Concordia struck back in the second after the first two batters were retired. Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) launched her second homer within the last five days to pull the Cougars even.

The pitchers took over from that point, neither giving an inch through the next several innings. DeFord wriggled out of a jam in the bottom of the seventh as a base hit and error put runners at third and second with two out. However, DeFord retired Jinny Curtis on a line drive to Andrea Kelly (Elk Grove, IL/Laguna Creek) in leftfield to send the game into extra innings.

Neither team threatened in the eighth, but Olivia Hires (Denver, CO/Bear Creek) started the ninth with a single and moved up on a wild pitch. Kelly sacrificed Hires to third, and the Warriors elected to walk Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) intentionally. However, with DeFord at bat, an illegal pitch allowed Hires to score for a 2-1 lead.

The Warriors put up a mild threat in the bottom of the ninth as Dayan Gacgacao singled with one out and advanced to second on an infield out. But DeFord stranded Gacgacao in scoring position by getting Lauren Mantz to ground out to Jensen at shortstop.

Buoyed by the close victory, the Cougars went in search of a sweep. They started out quickly as Hires led off the nightcap with her second homer of the year, a blast to right-center. Concordia's lead became 2-0 in the second as Jensen singled and eventually scored on a single to center by Sarah James (Riverside, IL/Riverside-Brookfield).

Wisconsin Lutheran evened the score in their half of the second on Abby Wigchers' two-run single, but Concordia reclaimed the lead in the third. With two on and two out, an error by the shortstop scored Johnson and Jensen. James followed with a double to the gap in left-center, scoring Hannah Solyom (Lombard, IL/Walther Lutheran) for a 5-2 lead. Caitlin Richards (Chicago, IL/Mother McAuley) was next up and singled, but James was cut down at the plate to end the inning.

The Warriors trimmed the Cougars' lead to 5-4 in the third and then tied the game in the fifth on a wild pitch. In the sixth, another wild pitch brought home the go-ahead run. A double by Mantz and single by Tara Degl'Innocenti scored a pair of insurance runs, and the Cougars were set down in order in the seventh to bring an end to the day's action.

Concordia is currently in fifth place in the NAC with an 11-9 record (15-20 overall). The Cougars are home this weekend to Maranatha Baptist Bible College on Saturday and Edgewood College on Sunday.