River Forest Ill. -- Battling the weather and the Raiders of MSOE, the Concordia University Chicago softball team fell in two games.
GAME ONE
Starting inside the circle for the Cougars, senior Holly Bathje (Davis Junction, Ill.) got things started on the day. Bathje kept the Raiders runless for the first inning, but allowed them two hits. In the second inning, she once again had to battle as the Raiders were hot offensively. The Raiders were able to score one run in the inning, and Bathje closed her time in game one.
Picking up where Bathje left off, senior Kate Roberts (Pontiac, Ill.) took the challenge of cooling down the MSOE bats, but she ultimately gave up one run on two hits within the inning. A pop up to second base allowed Carole Ross (Whittier, Calif.) to close the inning for the Cougars.
As Roberts put in another inning of work, the score remained stagnant with the Raiders lead at 2-0. Looking to put themselves on the board, a single up the middle from Annabella Archuletta (Pueblo, Colo.)Â gave the Cougars some space to work with. Pinch running for Archuletta, Gina Westphal (Elmhurst, Ill.) found herself at third after a huge double to right field from Nia DeGeorge (Omaha, Neb.). With two on base, Hailey Howard (Machesney Park, Ill.) stepped up to the plate and dropped the ball into right field giving Westphal the opportunity to score. After Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) dropped a perfectly placed bunt to fill the bases, a walk given to Sydney Paulauskis-Lauher (Chatham, Ill.) sent Howard home to tie the game.
From this point the Cougars struggled to keep the bats going as they were only able to find two more hits on the game, unable to convert any into runs while the Raiders were able to convert two hits into two runs to overtake the Cougars in game one with a final score of 4-2.
GAME TWO
Freshman Kallie Tierney (Corona, Calif.) stepped up to pitch for the Cougars to start game two where she was able to put two away early after freshman Tegan Oas (Shingle Springs, Calif.) was able to make a catch in the air at shortstop. Shortly after, Tierney ran into trouble as she walked the next three batters, putting them into scoring position and letting the Raiders take the early 1-0 lead.
A promising first inning at bat for the Cougars started out with Archuletta getting on base after getting hit by a pitch and DeGeorge placing a ball up the middle to put Archuletta in scoring position. Howard was walked as the Cougars found themselves with bases loaded and two outs, but a hit to the shortstop would give the Raiders their third out and leave the Cougars scoreless.
In the second inning, Bathje got her shot in the circle as she stepped in with runners on first and third. With the runner taking off to second, a rocket of a throw from junior Becky Pieroni (Montgomery, Ill.) would get to the bag in time to close the inning.
After struggling to cool down the Raiders, Bathje was replaced in the third inning by senior Karlee Knight (Lake Station, Ind.) who made her first appearance of the season to close out the inning without giving up any runs. In two innings of work, Knight held the Raiders to two hits and no runs before being relieved by Roberts.
Once again, the Cougars struggled to get the bats going before a single up the left side from Pieroni followed by Archuletta getting walked put them in scoring position. Unable to convert on two hits in the inning, the Cougars remained scoreless.
With Shroll coming in for Roberts after two innings, the Cougars were unable to catch up to the Raiders ultimately falling 6-0.
After this game, the Cougars sit at 5-4 in the conference as they take on Division Street Rival Dominican tomorrow for a single game at 4pm. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
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