April 18, 2015 – The Cougars returned to conference action hosting the Milwaukee School of Engineering on a crisp Saturday afternoon. The first game was delayed by two hours, but the wait didn't hurt CUC as they won 9-1 in five innings. The second game ran the full seven innings, and the Cougars earned the doubleheader sweep with a 2-0 victory.
 
Head Coach Sarah O'Malley-Fisher said, "The pitching and the defense are working together to support each other, and the bats are working as needed. The whole team continues to work hard and the improvement is showing day by day."
 
In game one, Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) started and pitched a complete game in a five inning victory. Johnson completed the game in 48 pitches and only allowed one run, a home run. The run support started early as Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St. Edward) made it home on a wild pitch for the early lead. Kruk's legs also got a workout in rightfield as she had a tremendous over the shoulder catch to end the second inning.
 
CUC scored three runs on three hits in the bottom of the second and was helped by two MSOE errors as they kept the bases full to put the pressure on. Emmy Vowell (Peotone, IL/H.S.) doubled in two runs in the following inning to give CUC the 6-0 advantage. The Cougars loaded the bases again in the fourth and brought in two more runs for an 8-0 lead.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, MSOE pulled one back on a home run, but the game was not extended for long. Johnson took matters into her own hands and hit a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the inning to make the final score 9-1, ending the game on the eight-run rule.
 
Alicia Salata (Bartlett, IL/Bartlett) pitched a complete game shutout in game two,allowing four hits on three strikeouts with only two walks. Early, it appeared that there would be a plethora of run support, but Concordia-Chicago stranded three in the second inning.
 
In the third, leadoff batter Stefanie D'Anna (LaGrange Park, IL/Lyons Township) reached first on an error and made it to third base on the bad throw. Kruk singled to left bringing D'Anna home. Kruk made it to third base on a Johnson sacrifice and a wild pitch. Then Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) doubled to score Kruk and give CUC the 2-0 lead.
 
Fortunately, with Salata's pitching and some stellar defense by Michele Alexander (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew) at third and Hannah Solyom (Lombard, IL/Walther Lutheran) in centerfield, two runs were all the Cougars needed. In the fourth inning, Solyom wowed the crowd with a diving catch in centerfield that she snagged with the webbing of the glove on a full layout. The final score was 2-0, and the sweep went to CUC raising their conference record to 13-3.
 
The Cougars host Concordia Wisconsin on Sunday for a doubleheader at 1 and 3 p.m. The two teams go into play on Sunday tied for second place in the conference after the Cougars' sweep and the Falcons' weep of Benedictine. Senior Day is being celebrated with the careers of Jensen, Solyom, Vowell and Hailey Kalinichenko (Scottsdale, AZ/Hotizon) honored.