April 12, 2015 – The Cougars traveled to Rockford on Sunday afternoon for a doubleheader against the Regents of Rockford University. It was a sunny breezy day as first game of the afternoon saw CUC rout the opposition 12-3 in six innings. The second game saw the Cougars beat the Regents 6-1 for the sweep. They are 8-0 on the week and 11-3 in conference.
Head Coach
Sarah O'Malley-Fisher said, "I just think the girls came out from the first pitch of the first inning and were ready to play today. It was a total team effort, and I am very happy to go into this week knowing that we played well. However, we still have a lot of work in front of us to finish out the season."
In game one,
Alicia Salata (Bartlett, IL/H.S.) pitched a complete-game six innings, giving up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. The hitting got off to a quick start in the first as
Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) doubled in
Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St. Edward).
Allie Bochat (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) then doubled to drive home Johnson. The lead was halved in the 2
nd inning on a Regents' homerun.
In the third inning, Bochat crushed a 240-foot homerun over the leftfield fence, bringing in three runs for a 5-1 lead as Concordia-Chicago took control of the game. Rockford added one in the bottom of the third, but CUC was back at it in the top of the fourth. With
Adriana Cura (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield South) and
Stefanie D'Anna (LaGrange Park, IL/Lyons Township) on base, Kruk tripled to rightfield. Kruk scored two pitches later on a wild pitch to push the lead to 8-2.
In the top of the fifth, pitcher Salata helped her cause with a double to left-center that brought in
Michele Alexander (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew).
Emmy Vowell (Peotone, IL/H.S.) singled in Salata for the eight-run lead. The Cougars were unable to wrap up the win in five as errors allowed Rockford to bring the game within seven. However, the CUC bats kept working in the top of the sixth when
Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) scored Johnson who had doubled. Alexander then singled in Jensen. CUC held serve in the bottom of the inning for a 12-3 victory.
In game two, Johnson started in the circle for a complete-game, four-hit shutout. Again, the CUC bats provided early support. Leadoff batter D'Anna made it aboard and stole second. She was sacrificed to third by Jensen and made it home on a double by Johnson to open the scoring. Bochat then proceeded to double off the 225 sign in leftfield, scoring Johnson for a 2-0 Cougar lead.
The game was quiet, in large part because of the strong defensive work by Jensen at shortstop, until the top of the fourth when CUC loaded the bases with one out. Cura battled 12 pitches and then bounced a double off the leftfield fence, scoring two and narrowly avoiding her second grand slam in as many days.
Haley Kalinichenko (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon) then reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Salata to increase the lead to 5-0.
The defense for both teams worked to hold things down for a couple innings before CUC loaded the bases in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Alexander singled in a run. Bases were still loaded for Salata who drove in two more insurance runs for an 8-0 lead, the game two victory and a sweep of the doubleheader.
The Cougars next game is on Tuesday as they host non-conference opponent North Park University. On Thursday, they travel to Elmhurst College for their final non-conference games of the season.
