April 23, 2015 – The Cougars played their final non-conference opponent of the season in a rescheduled doubleheader against North Central College in Naperville, IL. The Cardinals are the ninth-ranked team in the NCAA Division III and showed it. NCC prevailed 10-4 in the first game and 10-5 in the second on a chilly day with temps in the 30s.
 
In game one, the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead in the first with a run and two more in the second. In the top of the third, CUC struck back. With the bases loaded and two outs Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) reached first, and two runs crossed the plate to close the gap to 3-2.
 
North Central scored two more in the bottom of the third to extend the lead again but, in the fifth, a Hannah Solyom (Lombard, IL/Walther) squeeze bunt brought in Emmy Vowell (Peotone, IL/H.S.) to close the gap once again at 5-3. However, the Cardinals scored five more runs over the next two innings to take a 10-3 lead.
 
In the sixth, Solyom made a good catch in center field and a great throw as she gunned down the runner at the plate for a double play. Stefanie D'Anna (LaGrange Park, IL/Lyons Township) then led off the seventh with a base hit and scored on a single by Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St. Edward). Bur,it was not enough for the Cougars as game one ended 10-4.
 
Game two started well with a D'Anna single, a Johnson single, and an Allie Bochat (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) walk to load the bases with one out. An Alicia Salata (Bartlett, IL/Bartlett) sacrifice fly scored one for an early lead. However, the game took a quick turn for the worse as CUC gave up eight runs in the bottom of the first inning.
 
The Cougars persevered and battled for the rest of the game. In the third, Bochat reached first base and got two runs across the plate. That was all the runs in the inning as a Salata line shot almost took the third baseman's head off, but the ball was caught for an out in self-defense. Despite chipping away at the lead, NCC got two of their own in the fourth to make it 10-3.
 
In the top of the seventh, Kruk got aboard with one out and Johnson hit a line drive home run to make the final margin 10-5. A line drive home run was the only ball getting out of the field today because a strong wind was blowing in from centerfield all game and knocked down other player's attempts at the same feat.
 
The Cougars travel to conference foe Benedictine University on Friday. The contests occur in Lisle, IL at 3 and 5 p.m. and could play a significant role in seeding for the NACC tournament.