April 19, 2015 - There was a little bit of everything present when the Concordia-Chicago Cougars hosted the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons in softball action this afternoon. Senior Day festivities, challenging weather, and tje long ball all played roles in a battle of two archrivals who came into today tied for second place in the NACC standings. At the end of the day, the two teams remained tied as the CUW Falcons took game one 8-5 and the CUC Cougars game two by an 8-3 score.

In game one, the Falcons flexed their muscle as they pounded out four homers including two by catcher Carly Sobrilsky. Two of them came back-to-back in the third inning as CUW took a 5-1 lead. A solo homer in the fourth and Solbrilsky's second, a two-run blast in the seventh, had the visitors poised to win game one in a rout.

However, the Cougars, whose only offense prior to the seventh had come on a double by Jenni Jensen (Chicago, IL/Luther North) and a single by Michele Alexander (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew), made a late and determined charge. Singles by Allie Bochat (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South), Jensen and Alexander loaded the bases with one out.Alicia Salata (Bartlett, IL/H.S.) then unloaded them with a blast to dead centerfield that cleared the fence for a grand slam, her first homer of the season. All of a sudden, the score was 8-5, but the Cougars were not yet done.

The Falcons changed pitchers, but Adri Cura (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield South) worked a walk, and Emmy Vowell (Peotone, IL/H.S.) delivered a single to bring the tying run to the plate. Stefanie D'Anna (LaGrange Park, IL/Lyons Township) worked a 2-2 count before lifting a fly ball the opposite way. The ball fell into the leftfield line for an apparent base hit, but the leftfielder alertly threw to third base as Cura had to hold up momentarily to make sure the ball wouldn't be caught. The play went for a force for the second out, and Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St. Edward) was then retired n a fly to left for the final out. 

The skies were completely clouded over as the Cougars and Falcons began game two. This time, the Cougars took the early lead as D'Anna led off with a hit and scored later on Bochat's single off the centerfield wall.

The lead became 2-0 in the fourth as Alexander homered to left-center off the back of the baseball field's scoreboard. The blast was Alexander's third in the last 11 days. Concordia-Chicago added a run in the fifth as Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) singled and Bochat walked with two out. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, and Johnson scored when the catcher's throw to third went wild.

Concordia Wisconsin scored a two-out run in the sixth, but Courtney Pepper (South Bend, IN/Penn) stranded the tying runs in scoring position as a fly ball to left was caught for the third out. The Cougars then opened up the lead in the bottom of the inning with a five-spot. Alexander led off with a single, and Salata followed with her second homer of the day, this blast going to leftfield. The Falcons' defense then self-destructed as three errors led to three more runs. Jensen's RBI single accounted for the final run as the Cougars took an 8-1 lead into the seventh.

But, in a near mirror image of game one, the trailing team did not surrender quietly in their final at-bat. The Falcons loaded the bases with nobody out, and Alexis Holsten singled home a run as her fly ball landed between three fielders in short center. Salata relieved Pepper in the pitching circle as the Cougars looked to douse the fire, even as the rain increased. The first batter that Salata faced hit a ground ball past Alexander that hit the third base bag. Fortunately, Jensen alertly fielded the ball and beat the runner to the bag for a force out as the runner from third scored. Salata then retired the final two batters on a foulout to the catcher and a groundout to second as the Cougars wrapped up win number 19 of the year and 14th in conference play. The win was followed by a Senior Day ceremony in which the team honored Jensen, Vowell, Haley Kalinichenko (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon) and Hannah Solyom (Lombard, IL/Walther Lutheran). 

The Cougars return to action on Wednesday when they make up a previously postponed doubleheader at North Central College in Naperville.