RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Just two victories away from clinching an NACC playoff berth, the Concordia-Chicago softball team came off a walk-off win last night, looking to sweep the Inferno of Alverno College this afternoon. The Cougars struggled to piece together an offense in game one, ultimately falling 6-3. Bouncing back into game two, Alverno took a quick 3-0 lead before CUC scratched back into it and ultimately pulled off their second walk off victory, in as many days.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Running the show from inside the circle and the batter's box, senior Marita Van Dyke earned the game two win while throwing a complete seven-inning game and tacking on the walk off hit.
- For the second day in a row, senior Melissa Balkema was CUC's walk off run from third base.Â
GAME ONE, L 6-3
Alverno's offense kicked off the day right away, leading off the game with a single through the right side. With four more hits in the inning, the Inferno would quickly plate a four-spot and force the Cougars to make a pitching change. As
Karlee Knight entered the game for CUC, she got the Cougars the one out they needed to head to the plate.Â
In the bottom half of the opening frame, Van Dyke started her stellar day with a single up the middle. Classmate
Sydney Getz followed suit immediately, and doubled into centerfield and placed runners in scoring position.
Sydney Sterrett stepped up to the plate and provided the two-out, RBI single that cut the Cougar deficit down to two, as the Cougars went into the second inning down just 3-1.Â
For three complete innings, the score would remain the same as Knight consistently shut down Alverno's offense.Â
As the game went to the top of the fifth, the Inferno were able to tack on their final two runs of the day, after combining two singles and a double.Â
CUC threatened the Inferno's lead for the first time in the bottom of the sixth, when
Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher,
Kristen Landon and
Taylor Kulaszewicz hit for back-to-back-to-back singles and loaded the bases with two outs. A ground out ended the potential threat however, as the Cougars had just three more outs to plate a comeback.
In the bottom of the seventh, Concordia-Chicago rallied once again. This time,
Kacey Powers managed to score Van Dyke and
Abbey Sloan off a long single into the left center gap. While the Cougars cut the score down to 6-3, the comeback would end there as CUC surrendered game one to Alverno.Â
GAME TWO, W 5-4
Alverno once again jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and held the edge over the Cougars for nearly five innings of play.
In the top of the fifth, the Inferno had bases loaded with just one out and threatened to increase their lead. As Van Dyke delivered the pitch, Alverno's batter lined one straight back to Van Dyke who picked off the base runner at third base, as well, to escape the bases loaded jam unscathed.
After getting her team out of the defensive jam, Van Dyke lead off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer to left center field and got the Cougars on the scoreboard for the first time all game.Â
With momentum working in their favor, CUC continued to battle from the batter's box as
Nia DeGeorge doubled down the right field line just two batters after Van Dyke's homer. With two outs on the board,
Shania Phillips added to the hit parade with a single up the middle and moved DeGeorge to third base. With runners on the corners, Balkema came up with the hot shot liner down the left field line and tacked on another run for CUC. Down by just one now, Sloan stepped up to the plate and dropped a sneaky bunt single that had just enough give on it to score Phillips and tie up the game.Â
While blanking the Inferno in the top half of the sixth, CUC added an insurance run on in the bottom half of the frame. Thanks to singles from Getz and Van Dyke, the Cougars nearly had the Inferno surrounded. While Alverno made several defensive changes, looking to make a stop,
Kristen Landon stepped up to the plate and hit a hard ground ball to third base, forcing the visiting defense to make a decision. As the Inferno went for the out at one,
Reilly McGuire, who was pinch running for Getz, was able to use her speed and score from third, giving CUC its first lead of the day.Â
With the 4-3 lead and just three outs to go, the Inferno refused to go down quietly. As a walked batter eventually came around to score during the top of the seventh, the Cougars would enter the bottom of the seventh inning with three outs left to plate a walk off victory.
Doing just that, Balkema earned a walk and stole second immediately upon reaching to put the winning run in scoring position. From there, Sloan singled to the left side of the field and allowed Balkema to push an extra 60-feet and reach third safely. As Sloan stole second safely, the Inferno decided to walk Paulauskis-Lauher and load up the base paths. Forcing Getz to pop up, the Inferno had to face Van Dyke with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning. It took just two pitches to seal the deal, as Van Dyke ended the day the way she started with a hot shot single up the middle of the infield to score Balkema.
The Cougars will head north tomorrow to take on Wisconsin Lutheran College as they continue their NACC playoff push.Â
Â
