April 11,2016 - "We had to battle all day long," said Concordia-Chicago head coach Sarah O'Malley-Fisher. "We continued to show the fight we have this season, and it paid off with the girls getting an exciting win in game two." The Concordia Univeristy Chicago Cougars did indeed battle all day long, looking to get back to .500 in the NACC. They took on a young but tough Lakeland Muskies team in cool but sunny conditions today in River Forest. CUC used an Alicia Salata (Bartlett, IL/H.S.) homerun as a springboard to a 6-3 win in game one. In game two, CUC would be down to their final out before rallying with a three-run seventh. Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) provided the walk-off flare single to left that scored Melissa Balkema (Saint John, IN/Hanover Central) from second to seal the win 5-4.

In game one, Courtney Pepper (South Bend, IN/Penn) took to the pitching circle for CUC. Both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings. Lakeland got on the board first with a solo shot over the centerfield wall in the fourth to take the 1-0 lead. CUC responded with a long ball of their own to answer in the bottom half. Allie Bochat (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) led off the fourth with a single into left center to begin the inning. One out later, on a 1-1 count, Salata the senior stepped up and launched a no-doubt ball deep over the left-centerfield wall, giving the Cougars the lead 2-1.

CUC was back at it with important insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. Stefanie D'Anna (LaGrange Park, IL/Lyons Township) led off the inning with a sharp single up the middle. Johnson singlec to left-center one out later and advanced to second on the throw, which D'Anna would beat to third base. Bochat delivered in the cleanup spot in the order. She hammered an 0-1 pitch over the leftielder's head and off the base of the wall, allowing both D'Anna and Johnson to score. CUC stranded Bochat on third but would lead 4-1 after five.

Lakeland made their push at a rally in the top of the sixth. They began with back-to-back homeruns to leftfield. At that point, Salata came into the game in relief. She work through the sixth, keeping the lead at 4-3. In the bottom half, Emily Owens (Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley) led off with a single to centerfield. Pepper then put down a bunt and reached when the throw to get Owens at second was not in time. The runners were advanced 60 feet on a sacrifice bunt. D'Anna then stepped to the plate for CUC and slapped the first pitch she saw down the leftfield line, scoring both Owens and Pepper to make the score 6-3.

Salata shut down Lakeland in the seventh, picking up her second save of the year. Pepper improved to 3-0 on the season after throwing five innings and allowing just three runs. D'Anna, Bochat, and Owens had multiple hits in the game, with D'Anna and Bochat driving in two runs apiece.

Game two was a dramatic one. Lakeland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third. CUC answered back with four hits and two runs in the bottom half. Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St. Edward) started the rally for CUC with a single to left. Balkema singled her home, and Johnson singled as well to put runners at the corners. Bochat stepped up and delivered another RBI at-bat with a single just out of reach of the shortstop to make the score 3-2.

Lakeland added a big insurance run in the top of the seventh to make it a 4-2 game. The Cougars though were up to the challenge in the seventh. Owens started off the inning with a single down the leftfield line. Kristina Morsovillo (Earlville, IL/H.S.) would pinch-run for her at first. One out later, after Morsovillo had advanced to second on a wild pitch, Kruk singled to left-center and advanced to second on the throw, putting the tying run just 120 feet away. With two out and down to their last strike, Balkema brought the Cougar faithful to their feet with a flare single to bring the tying runs home to score. The other big part of the play would be Balkema advancing to second on the throw home. This set up Johnson for the walk-off opportunity and she delievered. In a 3-2 count Johnson would flare one over the shortstop's head allowing Balkema to race around and score. The Cougars came racing out of the dugout in excitement and triumph, completing the sweep with the dramatic 5-4 win in game two.

Balkema, Johnson, and Kruk all had multi-hit games for CUC. Balkema drove in three of the five runs as well. Marita Van Dyke (Brownsburg, IN/Tri-West) picked up her second win of the year after working four innings of relief, and allowing just the one earned run. 

The Cougars (14-5 3-3 NACC) will return to action on Wednesday evening when they renew the Division Street rivalry with a doubleheader matchup with Dominican Universirt. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Both games will be played in Rosemont, IL at the Chicago Bandits Stadium.