April 20, 2016- An old-time wise baseball player once said, that the mental side of the game is the most important. Mentally, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars came ready to play today. Looking to recover after a tough doubleheader against Benedictine yesterday, the Cougars took on the Elmhurst College Bluejays in non-conference action. The Cougars and Bluejays played in ideal softball temperatures today in River Forest. Elmhurst used a four-run second inning in game one to win 5-1, and CUC came back with a vengeance and used a nine-run third inning to take the nightcap 11-3. With the game two win, the Cougars have tied the single-season school record for wins and will have eight chances to set the record in the coming days. 

In game one, Elmhurst got all the scoring they needed in the second inning. A homerun got things started for the visiting Bluejays. They then rapped off four straight hits, all with two outs to plate three more runs. They added a final run in the fourth.

CUC scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Melissa Balkema (Saint John, IN/Hanover Central) singled to left and was quickly brought home when Meghan Johnson (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard West) doubled to right . Johnson led CUC in game two with three hits. The trouble for CUC in the game would be leaving runners on base. CUC outhit Elmhurst in the game, but would strand 10 runners on base.

In game two, the Cougars got back to their old ways on the diamond. Stefanie D'Anna (LaGrange Park, IL/Lyons Township) reached on an infield single. Allison Kruk (Elgin, IL/St. Edward) reached on a fielder's choice and D'Anna slid safely into second when the shortstop bobbled the groundball. It was Johnson again taking a 3-1 pitch to leftfield, scoring D'Anna and Kruk to make it 2-0 CUC. Elmhurst answered though with three runs of their own in the top of the third. 

In the bottom of the third, the Cougars batted through the order and then some. Kruk led off the inning with a double to centerfield. Johnson continued her hot day with a sharply-hit single to right. Allie Bochat (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South) drove in the first run of the inning with a single to right-center, scoring Kruk. With one out, Marita Van Dyke (Brownsburg, IN/Tri-West) singled through the left side to load the bases. Michele Alexander (Tinley Park, IN/Andrew) drew a five-pitch walk, and Sydney Getz (St. Joseph, MI/H.S.) singled to left, scoring Van Dyke and Alicia Salata (Bartlett, IL/H.S.). With two outs, D'Anna drew a walk to load the bases again. Kruk walked after Alexander scored on a wild pitch to load the bases one last time. Johnson capped off her great hitting day with the ultimate exclamation point. On a 3-2 count, Johnson got a pitch belt-high that she would turn on and launch high and deep, a moonshot over the rightfield wall for a grand slam, her second homerun of the year. CUC led 11-3 after the inning.

Salata went the distance and pitched well, picking up her fifth win of the year while striking out five. Johnson paced the Cougar attack in game two, going a perfect 3-3 while driving in six, a season-high for the team.

The Cougars (19-10 7-7 NACC)  will have their first tries at setting the new wins' record on Saturday. They will travel to Milwaukee to take on Alverno College in NACC play, with first pitch scheduled for 12:00 p.m.