April 13, 2019 - The Concordia-Chicago Cougars were home this afternoon to host the Eagles of Edgewood College in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play. After two losses last Monday at Aurora University, the Cougars needed to get back on track with two wins over the Eagles, although two gutsy efforts by the visitors made it a difficult task. However, after CUC took game one 4-1, it would take some late-inning heroics by Marita Van Dyke and Shania Phillips to put game two in the win column, 4-2 in eight innings.

The day was dominated by the pitchers, helped out at times by a strong wind blowing in from right field. The Cougars got to work in the second inning of game one as Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher singled between third and short for CUC's first hit. Sydney Sterrett followed with a successful sacrifice, and each runner took an extra base when the third baseman's throw to first went wild. Sydney Getz then ripped a sharp single to center, scoring both runners for the 2-0 lead.

Edgewood touched CUC pitcher Van Dyke for a run in a third, but Van Dyke and the infield made sure it wasn't worse. With the bases loaded and one out, Van Dyke enticed the batter to hit a soft grounder to third. Getz threw home to erase the lead runner, and Taylor Kulaszewicz's relay to first was in time for the inning-ending double play.

The Cougars added some insurance in the fifth. Abbey Sloan doubled with one out, and she moved to third on a Van Dyke single. Sloan then scored on an infield grounder, helped out when the second baseman dropped the shortstop's throw, making everybody safe. Sterrett then bunted for a single, and Getz followed with a sacrifice fly to right for a 4-1 lead.

That was all that Van Dyke would need, although the Eagles tried to rally in the seventh. But, with one out and a runner at first, the batter hit a line drive to Kacey Powers at first. Powers only needed to retreat a step or two to tag the base and complete the game-ending double play.

Game two got underway with Holly Bathje in the pitcher's circle for the Cougars. Bathje was saddled with an unearned run in the first when an errant throw was made trying to catch a runner retreating to third base. The Eagles made it a 2-0 game in the third on Sabrina Maicke's two-out RBI double.

It appeared as if those two runs would be enough to corral the Cougars in the nightcap as EC pitcher Emily Bloomfield had CUC completely stymied through four. Maddy Coppens, the game-one pitcher, relieved Bloomfield in the fifth, and she shut down CUC in innings five and six, so the Cougars came up for their last at-bats in the seventh, trailing by a pair.

The Eagles recorded the first out, but pinch-hitter Phillips singled to give the Cougars some hope. Nia DeGeorge hit a comebacker to the mound, but the second baseman could not hold the pitcher's throw, and both runners were safe. Melissa Balkema upped the ante by reaching on an infield single and loading the bases. Coppens looked to rescue Edgewood by striking out the next batter, bringing Van Dyke to the plate. Van Dyke wasted no time, jumping on the first pitch and lining a shot past the diving second baseman into right-center field and scoring Phillips and DeGeorge. Coppens would get the third out, but the Cougars had new life.

Van Dyke took over in the pitcher's circle to start the eighth. With two out, an Eagle would reach on an infield single, but Van Dyke got the next batter to fly to Phillips in right, and CUC came to bat with a chance to win.

Sterrett led off by hitting a shot off the pitcher's glove for a single. Sterrett would later steal second, although Coppens would retire the next two batters, However, Phillips came up, needing only a single to win the game, Phillips did more than that, as she was also first-pitch hunting, and she hit an absolute rope to center field that no wind was going to affect. The ball narrowly cleared the highest part of the wall, and Phillips circled the bases with a walk-off, two-run homer for a 4-2 win and the sweep.

The Cougars (14-8, 7-5 NACC) are scheduled to play two at Rockford University on Sunday afternoon, although the forecast is for nasty weather conditions. Fans are advised to check the website an/or CUC social media on Sunday morning for any updates.