April 13, 2017- The Division Street Rivalry was renewed today in River Forest, when the Concordia-Chicago Cougar Softball team welcomed the Dominican University Stars to the south side of Division street for two important contests, with what could prove to be just as important NACC playoff implications as the implications in the Rivalry Cup sponsored by Northwestern Mutual. Game one was a clean pitcher's duel that went into extras. Dominican was able to pull away in game one 3-1 with a bloop single in the eighth. Game two was played in warm sunshine and saw the Cougar bats' hot early with two homeruns. CUC then fought off a tough Stars team with great pitching down the stretch for the 6-4 game two win.
 
"Those were two well played softball games," said Head Coach Sarah O'Malley-Fisher. "That was fun because those are the games you look forward too. Our girls competed today from start to finish, I think a lot of that stemmed from that North Central game earlier in the week."
 
In game one, both teams were stifled by the fantastic pitching by both Marita Van Dyke and Cat Klostermann. Neither pitcher gave up an earned run until extras. Both pitchers showed precise command of the strike zone, keeping both offenses searching for runs.

CUC struck first in the bottom of the fifth. With Elizabeth Foxley on first, Melissa Balkema lifted a deep fly ball into the left field corner in foul territory. The catch was made, and Foxley in a heads up base running move tagged up and slid into second. The throw though from left field trying to catch Foxley ended up all the way on the right field fence near first base. Foxley was waved all the way around to score, making it 1-0 CUC.
 
Dominican answered with an unearned run in the sixth when a ball up the middle was unable to be handled with two outs. The fans then were treated to free softball in game one. Dominican finally broke through offensively in the eighth with two runs with two outs. The two runs came off of the bat of Jacadi Rivera with the bases loaded on a Van Dyke pitch that was a good ball off of the plate. Klostermann was able to continue her impressive performance, closing out the complete game 3-1 win over CUC.
 
In game two, Cougars' starting pitcher Courtney Pepper made quick work of the Stars in the first. CUC then stepped to the bat and used a few big swings to get momentum back on their side. First it was Balkema with the big fly to straight away center field on a 1-2 pitch for the leadoff homer. The Cougars continued to add on in the inning as both Stefanie D'Anna and Michele Alexander reached following the homerun. Allison Kruk made it 2-0 CUC when D'Anna hustled all the way around from second to score on a soft ground ball. The second big swing then came with Kruk on first and one away. This one came off of the bat of Van Dyke, a towering shot over the center field wall. She was greeted with cheers from her teammates, while CUC also extended their lead to 4-0.
 
The Cougars kept their foot on the gas in the second inning, picking up a fifth run when Kruk brought home Balkema who led off with a walk, with a sharp single up the middle. Cougar starting pitcher Pepper was in control through the first four innings, but the Stars finally broke through in the fifth. Two homeruns by Gabby Curran and Ali Woitovich pulled the Stars within one, while also forcing CUC to bring in Julianne Nation with CUC leading 5-4.
 
Nation took control in her relief stint, while her offense picked up a insurance run in the fifth. Megan Strong continued her hot stretch of hitting with a triple down the left field line scoring Kruk. The run pushed the lead to 6-4 CUC, and was plenty for Nation who shut the Stars down, picking up her first save of the season.
 
"Any win in conference is a big win for us," said O'Malley-Fisher. "We battled back and hung tough all day long. The homers in the first inning of game two got us rolling and we played with a lot of confidence from there. Now we need to focus in on Edgewood on Saturday."
 
The Cougars (14-12 4-6 NACC) now get ready for Edgewood College who will come to River Forest on Saturday. Opening pitch against the Eagles is set for 12:00pm from CUC.