April 16,2016 - When it comes to leaving things in the past, the Concordia University Chicago softball team did just that today. After struggling with leaving runners on base earlier in the week, the Cougars got on base early and often today, leading to a 20-run, 30-hit outburst. They battled the Edgewood College Eagles in an important NACC matchup in Verona, WI with the best weather of the year for softball. The Cougars put themselves back in the thick of the NACC playoff race today with a sweep of the Eagles by scores of 12-3 and 8-7. They were led by Stefanie D'Anna (LaGrange Park, IL/Lyons Township) who went 7-9 in the doubleheader and set the offensive pace.

In game one, CUC got their bats rolling immediately. D'Anna led off her busy day with a single up the middle. Melissa Balkema (Saint John, IN/Hanover Central) followed by hitting a 1-0 pitch to left. An error allowed D'Anna to race around and score while Balkema advanced to second. One out later, Allie Bochat (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) brought Balkema around to score with a single to right center. Michele Alexander (Tinley Park, IL/Andrew) and Emily Owens (Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley) followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Marita Van Dyke (Brownsburg, IN/Tri-West) reached on an error allowing Bochat to score. Megan Strong (Bartlett, IL/St. Edward) drove in the final run of the inning as CUC jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one-half inning.

Edgewood scored their only runs of game one off starting pitcher Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West).Two homeruns allowed three runs to plate in the inning. However, the Cougars responded with a run back in the top of the third. Strong reached on an error and, with two outs, she was plated by three straight Cougar hits. The last of those hits came from Balkema to make the score 6-3.

Van Dyke was later called upon in relief and pitched brilliantly for the Cougars. She helped herself out with the bat in the fourth. An Alexander single up the middle with one out got things started. Owens reached on an infield single. Van Dyke then stepped up and blasted a 1-1 pitch to left-center, scoring two on the double to make the score 8-3. Strong would also single and steal a base in the inning. 

CUC made sure to put the game out of reach with a big seventh inning. Balkema and Johnson were both hit by a pitch to begin the inning. One out later, Alexander singled to score Balkema. The big swing of the inning came with two outs, when Van Dyke belted an 0-2 pitch deep to left down the line for the three-run shot, the second of her Cougar career. 

CUC finished with 18 hits in the first game, and all nine batters in the order had at least one hit in the game. Van Dyke was dominant in relief, going five innings and allowing just two hits while striking out eight. 

Game two, a more back-and-forth affair, would be just as important for the Cougars and Eagles in the NACC playoff race. CUC jumped out in the second. Alexander led off the inning hammering a 3-1 pitch to left-center for a double. Owens singled to left to put runners at the corners. Two outs and a walk later. D'Anna singled through the right side, scoring both Alexander and Owens. Balkema followed suit with a double to left-center scoring Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St. Edward) who had been walked, and D'Anna to make it 4-0 CUC. 

Julianne Nation (Oswego, IL/H.S.) made the game two start inside the circle for CUC and pitched the first two innings. Edgewood fought back in the bottom of the second with two key two-out hits to make it 4-3 CUC after two. Edgewood momentarily took the lead in the bottom of the third as a two-run homerun to left field gave the Eagles the 5-4 lead.

The Cougars would not allow the lead to last long. With one out, Kruk launched a 2-2 pitch over the center field wall to tie the game at five. CUC was not done in the inning, though. D'Anna singled to left. With two outs, Johnson singled to left-center which would score D'Anna (who had stolen second a couple pitches earlier) to make it 6-5 CUC.

Edgewood didn't go away on this beautiful spring day. A leadoff walk was brought around to score in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game. The Cougars had all the answers though as they took the lead for good in the sixth. D'Anna led off with a double down the left field line, her seventh hit of the day. Balkema would walk to put two runners on. Johnson would single through the right side to put CUC ahead for good, scoring both D'Anna and Balkema. 

The Eagles made one last effort to try and salvage the split in the bottom of the seventh. Two straight singles started the inning and excited the home crowd. Van Dyke came on to try and pick up the save. A sacrifice bunt put the tying run on second with one out. A fly out to centerfield scored one, and the runner also tagged from second to put the tying run 60 feet away with two outs. After an intentional walk, Van Dyke retired the final Eagles' hitter on a fly out to deep centerfield to preserve the 8-7 win and the sweep. 

The Cougars pounded out 12 more hits in game two, led by D'Anna who would go a perfect 4-4 in game two while scoring three runs. Johnson and Owens also had multiple hits in the second game. Alicia Salata picked up her fourth win of the year after working four innings of relief. Van Dyke earned her second save of the year as well. 

The Cougars (16-7 5-5 NACC) will look for the perfect weekend when they return to the Concordia softball field tomorrow afternoon. They will take on the Rockford Regents in another NACC doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m.  Live stats and audio will be available for Sunday's games.