DES PLAINES, Ill. -- With the need to get in NACC games and inclement weather in the forecast, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars and Dominican Stars battled from inside the Dome at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex earlier today. CUC was able to take game one by a score of 6-1, before falling to the Stars in game two by the same score.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:Â
- Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher led the day with three hits between the two games. In game one, the rookie recorded two hits and two RBIs.
- Sydney Getz hit her first homer of the season this afternoon in game one, hitting a two-run shot over the left field wall.Â
- Holly Bathje picked up the win in game one, fanning eight batters in a complete game's work.
GAME ONE, W 6-1
The Cougar defense showed up ready to work in game one, as the Stars kicked off the game with a single through the left side. Despite threatening early,
Taylor Kulaszewicz caught the runner stealing and quickly emptied the base paths, to allow Bathje to get into a rhythm from the circle. As the freshman pitcher shut down the next two Dominican batters, CUC's offense headed into the bottom half of the inning hungry for some runs.
From the get-go,
Shania Phillips led off with a monster triple to the right center gap that gave Concordia an early advantage. As
Sydney Sterrett followed up with a walk, Paulauskis-Lauher brought Phillips in with her first hit of the day and placed runners on first and second.
On the very next pitch to Getz, Sterrett and Paulauskis-Lauher completed the double steal and moved into scoring position. With the runners ready, Getz singled to center and gave CUC the 2-0 lead. While the Stars changed pitchers, junior
Kristen Landon paid no mind to the switch and doubled to right field to tack on one more run for the Cougars in the bottom of the first.
With the early lead, Bathje went to work from the mound and got into a groove, blanking Dominican for the next three innings.
In the top of the fifth, Dominican would score their only run after stringing together three hits.
Despite the Stars cutting the deficit down, CUC answered right back with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Abbey Sloan led off the inning with a bunt single, and managed to get to second base before the Cougars hit into two outs. Raring to score from second, Paulauskis-Lauher hit a two-out RBI single up the middle while Sloan used her speed to cross home plate. With Paulauskis-Lauher on first, Getz followed up with her first homer of the season and brought the Cougar run total to six.
With a comfortable 6-1 lead, Bathje returned to the mound and shut down the Stars over the final 1.5 innings of play, picking up her fourth win of the season.Â
GAME TWO, L 1-6
CUC's offense slowed down in game two, as the team would not score until the bottom of the sixth inning.
With
Kate Roberts in the circle, she retired the side in order to open up the game. Heading into the top of the second though, the Stars' bats came to life as they hit for a single and two doubles to plate two early runs.Â
Despite the early surge, Roberts was nearly untouchable for the next three innings of work as she retired all three sides with three consecutive outs. Dominican's bulk of offense finally came in the top of the sixth, as a lead off single escalated into another four runs for the visitors.
Down by six, the Cougars got scrappy in the bottom of the sixth. Phillips started off the inning reaching on an error and from there,
Melissa Balkema and Paulauskis-Lauher managed to bring her around as they each singled up the middle.
Although CUC's offense sparked life, one run was all that was left in the tank as Dominican walked away with the 6-1 victory.
Concordia-Chicago will return to action this weekend to take on MSOE at home in River Forest, beginning at 12 p.m. (CST).Â
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