March 11, 2019 - While day one of the Concordia-Chicago softball team's trip to Florida produced two satisfying results, day two was the antithesis. The Cougars lost to Carroll University and Gordon College, both by 6-3 scores, and fell to 2-2 on the 10-game trip.
In the early morning game against Carroll University from Waukesha, WI. the Pioneers jumped on Cougars' starting pitcher
Holly Bathje for two runs in the first. Carroll threatened to turn the game ino a rout by adding three more runs in the third, two of them unearned. Meanwhile, CUC was getting some opportunities but not doing anything with him. Through their first five at-bats, the Cougars stranded four runners on base, three in scoring position.
Shania Phillips led off the sixth with a double, only the second hit of the game for CUC to that point. With one out,
Melissa Balkema's grounder found a hole through the right side of the infield, and the Cougars had their first run on the scoreboard. However, Carroll got that run back with a two-out unearned run in the bottom of the inning, and Concordia-Chicago trailed 6-1 as they came to the plate for their final at-bats of game one.
Claire Urchell began the rally with a base hit.
Abbey Sloan walked, and
Sydney Sterrett singled to load the bases, causing the Carroll coach to make a pitching change. The new hurler retired the first batter she saw, but
Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher singled in the infield, scoring Urchell and moving everyone up a base. Balkema then hit a fly to left field that was deep enough to score Sloan and make it a 6-3 game.
Kristen Landon walked to reload the bases and bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate, but the Pioneers' pitcher came through with the strikeout to hand the Cougars their first loss of the season.
Gordon College from Wenham, MA provided the opposition for game two. The Scots put up a fast three in the first when the first two batters walked ahead of Arianna Ramsaran's deep blast to left field. But CUC would stifle Gordon's momentum quickly and chip away at the early deficit. Paulauskis-Lauher would single in the second and eventually score on a wild pitch. In the third, Phillips belted the Cougars' first round-tripper of the year to make it a 3-2 game. The Cougars then tied the game in the fourth with Paulauskis-Lauher the catalyst again. She singled, moved up on a wild pitch and came home on a single to left by
Kelly Tarasiewicz.
Karlee Knight started game two in the pitching circle and went the first 3 1/3 innings before giving way to Bathje. Bathje got out of trouble in the fourth and then shut down the Scots in the fifth and sixth innings. However, trouble reared its head as Gordon batted in the seventh. The leadoff batter reached on an error. Bathje retired the next two batters on pop-ups in the infield, but a walk extended the inning. Caitlin Catalanotto then lifted a pop to short right field, but this one got down inside the line and went for an RBI single and the go-ahead run. Kristen Brown tacked on a two-run single as the Scots' three=spot made it a 6-3 game. The Cougars tried to rally, getting a runner aboard with two out, but the Scots' pitcher retired the final batter, keeping the tying run in the on-deck circle.
Two more games are on tap for CUC Tuesday morning, They will take on the University of Mount Union from Alliance, OH at 7 a.m. (Chicago time) and Marywood University of Scranton, PA at 10:15.
