CLERMONT, Fla. -- With good weather on their side the Concordia-Chicago softball team kicked off its annual spring break trip with games against Saint Mary's College and Cornell College this afternoon.
After five scoreless innings against the Belles, Saint Mary's picked up momentum to put up a four-spot in the top of the sixth and never looked back as they won 4-1. Later in the day, CUC fell behind early to the Cornell College Rams and would rally, but ultimately fell just short at a 5-4 score.
Game One vs. St. Mary's - L, 4-1
Inside the Box Score:
- Sophomore Holly Bathje pitched a complete game against the Bells and fanned five batters. She threw five scoreless innings and walked just two batters.
- Sophomore Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher had a stellar game at the plate, as she went 3-for-3, including an RBI single to right field to plate the Cougars' lone run of the game.
- Rookies Becky Pieroni and Nikita Robbins had CUC's other two hits of the game, as Pieroni scored the only run of the contest.
How it Happened:
- Bathje kicked off the day with two strikes outs right away in the top of the first, before the Cougars' offense got to see Saint Mary's pitching staff.
- In the bottom of the second, Paulauskis-Lauher led off the inning with a single to right field, allowing CUC an early opportunity to strike. The sophomore would advance to second but eventually be stranded at the bag.
- The next inning the Cougars threatened to score once again, this time as Robbins singled through the right side and stole second base. She too would get stranded at second as CUC and Saint Mary's headed into the top of the fourth in a 0-0 stalemate.
- In the top of the sixth, the Belles found themselves with runners on first and third with one out. A subsequential squeeze bunt would allow both base runners to cross home plate and break the scoreless game open.
- From there, Saint Mary's would plate two more runs in the sixth due to defensive miscues from the Cougars.
- Now trailing 4-0, CUC went to work in the batter's box and quickly found themselves with two outs in the bottom half of the sixth.
- Pieroni stepped up to the plate and singled to right field while advancing to second as the dribbled ball tied up two Belles' fielders. From there, Paulauskis-Lauher singled to right and brought Pieroni around for CUC's solo run of the game.
- The rally would end there as Concordia-Chicago fell 4-1 to Saint Mary's.
Game Two vs. Cornell - L, 5-4
Inside the Box Score:
- Kate Roberts saw one inning of relief work in the back end of today's double header, striking out one batter while allowing no walks and no hits.
- Robbins led game two for the Cougar offense, as she went 2-for-3 including the first home run of her career. The freshman picked up 3 RBI's with the blast, and also scored two runs.
- Pieroni also had two hits today, going 2-for-4 against the Rams and scoring one run.
- With a line drive up the middle, senior Kristen Landon had one run batted in.
How it Happened:
- Cornell's offense stormed the gates this afternoon, bolstering four runs off five hits in the early goings of today's contest.
- After settling in, pitcher Hailey Howard and the Cougars were able to shut down the Rams for three innings of scoreless work.
- On the flip side, CUC produced its second two-out rally of the day, this time in the bottom of the fourth, as Robbins hit a two-out single to shortstop, followed by Landon's RBI single to centerfield to get on the board.
- Now trailing 4-1, the Rams put one more run on the board after stringing together back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fifth inning.
- Going into the sixth, Pieroni led things off with a single up the middle. Thanks to a passed ball, the freshman would advance into scoring position with Sydney Sterrett up at the plate.
- Sterrett would then reach on an error to put Cougars on first and second base, as Nia DeGeorge laid down a sac bunt to the third baseman that moved Pieroni and Sterrett into scoring position.
- From there, Robbins worked her way into a full count in the batter's box, before launching a three-run homerun behind the right center wall to pull the Cougars within just one run of the Rams.
- As Roberts came in for relief in the bottom of the sixth, she held off Cornell to give CUC one more chance at completing the comeback, but four runs would be it for the Cougars as they ultimately fell 5-4 to the Rams.
Up Next:
- CUC finds themselves back in action bright and early tomorrow morning to take on Ursinus College at 9 a.m. Following the match up against the Bears, the Cougars will turn around and face Monmouth College at 11:15 a.m. (EST). Live stats will be available all week at cucougars.com/coverage.
