CLERMONT, Fla. -- The Concordia-Chicago softball team opened up the 2019 campaign in thrilling fashion, as the Cougars forced game one against Fredonia into extra innings and avoided a late comeback against Simpson in game two for the complete two-game sweep.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Marita Van Dyke earned the game one win, going the distance to throw a complete nine-inning game and fanning five batters.Â
- In game two, freshman Holly Bathje earned the start and struck out three.Â
- Van Dyke led the way offensively as well, finishing the day with three hits and two RBI's.
GAME ONE vs. Fredonia:
The Cougars and Blue Devils settled into an old fashioned pitcher's duel to start off the 2019 season. CUC struggled to get the bats going early, but in the fourth inning
Melissa Balkema led off with a single to center to ignite a Cougar rally. Van Dyke followed Balkema and went opposite field for a single to right that pushed Balkema to third and in scoring position. From there,
Nia DeGeorge laid down a squeeze bunt that ultimately allowed Balkema to cross the plate and give CUC the 1-0 lead midway through the game.Â
The Blue Devils answered right back, stringing together a pair of hits to score a runner and quickly settle the score, 1-1.
Despite the fourth inning offensive surge for both teams, the pitchers regained control of the game and allowed no runs for the next four innings. Forcing the game into international tie breaker rules, the Cougars led off the top of the ninth with Van Dyke placed on second base. DeGeorge led off the inning with another clutch bunt and advanced Van Dyke from second to third.
Shania Phillips came around with the one-out double to plate Van Dyke and scored herself later on, off a stolen base and double from
Kelly Tarasiewicz. With the 3-1 lead, CUC headed into the bottom of the ninth with a cushion.
Fredonia was able to score a run in the bottom half of the inning, but ultimately Van Dyke shut down the offense to give CUC its first win of 2019.
GAME TWO vs. Simpson:
The Cougars' ninth inning offense leaked into the start of game two, as CUC busted the door down with five runs in the first three innings against the Storm.
In the opening inning, Phillips earned a walk followed by
Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher and Van Dyke combining for back-to-back doubles to score Paulauskis and Phillips. With an early 2-0 lead,
Kristen Landon and Tarasiewicz also went for consecutive doubles in the top of the second to score Landon and make it a 3-0 game. With a comfortable lead, CUC kept swinging and were able to plate two more runs in the third thanks to an RBI single through the left side from
Sydney Sterrett.
The Cougar bats went cold after the third, but Bathje's pitching performance kept the Storm at an arm's reach, as she blanked Simpson for five whole innings. Finally in the bottom of the sixth, the Storm broke through and put up a three-spot on a late rally. As Bathje worked out of the inning and headed into the bottom of the seventh, Simpson was not going to go down easy. With two doubles and a defensive miscue, the Storm pulled within just one run of CUC, down 5-4, runners on first and third with no outs. Simpson's next batter popped up to Phillips in center field as the Storm's third-base runner appeared to tag up and score the tying run off a sac-fly. However, the Cougars appealed the action and with the Storm's runner leaving early, CUC pulled off the double play. Simpson's next batter lined out to Tarasiewicz at first base and the Cougars secured their second opening day victory.
The Cougars return to the diamond tomorrow morning for more double-header action, first taking on Carroll University at 9:15 a.m. (EST) followed by Gordon College at 11:30 a.m. (EST).
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