April 26, 2015 – The Cougar softball team played their final regular-season games Sunday afternoon in advance of Thursday's Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament. Despite 4-1 and 2-0 losses to the first-place Aurora University Spartans, the Cougars finished in fourth place in the standings with a 14-8 record.
Both games were fast-moving affairs on a cool, but sunny spring day in Aurora. The hosts struck first in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. In the fourth inning,
Alicia Salata (Bartlett, IL/H.S.) came back to strike out the side. The Cougars built on that momentum in the fifth as
Hannah Solyom (Lombard, IL/Walther Lutheran) singled home
Michele Alexander (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew) to cut the lead in half.
Unfortunately, tthe Spartans got two insurance runs in the sixth to take game one by a score of 4-1. CUC got two aboard in the seventh but was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
Allie Bochat (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) and
Emmy Vowell (Peotone, IL/H.S.) each had two hits in the game.
In game two, the Cougars planned to use their three remaining pitchers to get them work prior to the tournament.
Courtney Pepper (South Bend, IN/Penn) pitched the first two innings,
Julianne Nation (Oswego, IL/H.Ssity.) the next three, and
Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) finished up. They combined for a two-run, five-hit effort with four strikeouts and one walk against the undefeated NACC champions.
The second game was even faster than the first as the pitchers kept the game under control. Aurora had a two-run homerun in the first inning which accounted for the only scoring. Neither team had much success in the batter's box. In the sixth inning, Vowell led off with a single and stole second base. She was moved to third, but could not be brought home.
The Cougars travel to the NACC tournament for games on Thursday through Saturday at Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI. Concordia-Chicago is seeded fourth in the NACC and plays their first game against Division Street rival Dominican University at noon on Thursday.