Concordia University Chicago softball (1-7) dropped a pair of games against the Vikings of North Park University (2-0) on Monday afternoon by final scores of 10-1 and 6-5. 

Game One
North Park jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back. The Vikings took advantage of a walk and two errors, with the biggest blow coming on a bases-loaded single with two outs that brought home the second and third runs. 

The Viking offense scored in three of their four times at the plate and built a healthy 10-1 lead that resulted in the game ending in five innings. Scoring chances were hard to come by for CUC in game one, and runners were stranded in scoring position in the first and third innings.  

The Cougars' lone run came on a triple from Annabella Archuletta (Pueblo, Colo.), who then scored on an error. It was the freshman's second three-bagger of the season. 

Nia DeGeorge (Omaha, Neb.) went 2-3 at the plate with a double in the loss. The senior continued her hot start to the season, now hitting over .500 on the year. 

Karlee Knight (Lake Station, Ind.) was solid in relief for the Cougars on the mound. In two innings of work, she allowed four hits and just one earned run. The senior also had one of the four Cougar hits at the plate. 

Game Two
After falling behind early again, the Cougars knotted things up with a massive four-run outburst in the top of the third, highlighted by a two-RBI double from junior Sydney Paulauskis Lauher. 

The Cougars were more effective at pushing across runners in scoring position in the second game. Archuletta and Becky Pieroni (Montgomery, Ill.) both hit sac-flies in the third inning to bring the game even. The two of them are tied for the team-high in RBIs this year with nine. 

The Vikings took a 5-4 in the fourth inning on a bloop single that scored a runner all the way from first, but CUC immediately answered with Pieroni driving in DeGeorge on a single to center. It was the second time in as many at-bats that Pieroni brought home a runner from scoring position. 

The game ended on a walk-off double by North Park's Erin Penn in the bottom of the seventh. 

Junior Holly Bathje allowed just two earned runs in 6.2 innings of work, striking out three and allowing seven hits. She has now struck out multiple batters in each of her last four appearances. 

Up Next
Team 61 off for the next 10 days before hosting Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday, March 8. It is the home opener for the Cougars as well as their first conference game of the 2021 season. 

The doubleheader with the Falcons is set to begin at 12 p.m., with the second game starting around 2. A stream to both games will be available on the CUC Athletic's Youtube channel.