April 25, 2019 - It took nearly 72 hours for the Concordia-Chicago to earn a split with the Concordia University Wisconsin. The Cougars then had to endure the Falcons erasing a four-run CUC lead, but all was well in the end as senior
Melissa Balkema's heads-up base running led to the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Final score was CUC 6, CUW 5.
After CUW had won game one on Monday by a 7-5 score, CUC had taken a 4-1 lead after three innings of the nightcap. The Falcons' lead-off batter in the fourth reached base before lightning and rain caused a suspension of the game. When play was resumed today, the weather was much more cooperative, and the Cougars were ready to go.Â
The Falcons looked to capitalize on their lead-off runner in the fourth. She moved to second on an infield out, and Emily Schimberg followed with a double to the wall in right. However, the runner had to hold up on the fly, and the relay went from
Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher to Balkema to catcher
Taylor Kulaszewicz to deny the run.Â
Spurred by the big defensive play, the Cougars added to their lead in the bottom of the inning.
Kacey Powers led off with a base hit, Kulaszewicz then bunted her over to second and got a bonus when she was safe at first on a bad throw by the third baseman. The Cougars continued the small ball as
Shania Phillips moved both runners up a base, and Powers would score on
Kristen Landon's infield hit for a 5-1 lead.
The Cougars' lead was still at four when the Falcons came to bat in the sixth. When the first two batters reached base.
Marita Van Dyke took over for
Kate Roberts in the pitcher's circle. Van Dyke retired the first batter on a ground ball as both runners advanced. After a walk, Schimberg hit a grounder down the line that nicked off third base. Two runners scored, narrowing the lead to 5-3. A walk loaded the bases again, and Taylor Kuske's double to center tied the game at 5-5. However, Van Dyke retired the next two batters on a tap back to the circle and a fly ball to left.
In the seventh, CUW got a runner to third with two out, but Van Dyke got the third out on a ground ball to third, and the Cougars came up looking for a walk-off. Balkema started the winning rally with a single up the middle and moved to second on Landon's sacrifice. Paulauskis-Lauher was next, and she singled just over the second baseman's glove, Balkema advancing to third.
Sydney Getz was next, and she lifted a high pop-up in foul territory next to CUW's third-base dugout. The ball was caught for the second out, but Balkema caught the Falcons by surprise and sprinted for home plate. The split-second hesitation before the ball was thrown was enough to allow Balkema to dive head-first and touch the plate before the catcher could make the tag, and the Cougars joyously celebrated their big win.
With the win, the Cougars (20-14, 10-8 NACC) reduced their magic number for clinching a berth in next week's conference tournament to two. They will have a chance to make that number zero on Friday afternoon as they host Alverno College in a doubleheader with games at 3:00 and 5:00.
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