River Forest Ill. -- With a quick turnaround from yesterday's doubleheader, the Concordia University Chicago softball team took on Division Street Rival Dominican University for a single game where they defeated the Stars 9-1.

Freshman Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) started inside the circle for the Cougars where she threw a total of seven pitches before closing the inning in three batters. After some unlucky at bats, the Cougars were quickly back to playing defense where Shroll had to fight a bit longer than the previous inning. With the bases filled and two outs, the Cougars were forced to battle resulting in a Shroll strikeout and a force play at home to close the inning.

With back-to-back walks to start the Cougars offensive inning, Nia DeGeorge (Omaha, Neb.) stepped up to the plate and sent one down the left field line to fill the bases. With Gina Westphal (Elmhurst, Ill.) facing a walk the Cougars were finally able to get on the board, going up 1-0.

Cougars take the lead! Westphal draws the walk with the bases loaded to take a 1-0 lead in the second. pic.twitter.com/F9ziJ4OYTM

— CUC Softball (@cucsoftball) April 21, 2022

Allowing the Stars to tie it up, the Cougars continued their hot streak as freshman Tegan Oas (Shingle Springs, Calif.) stepped up to the plate and dropped a bunt to get on base. With Annabella Archuletta (Pueblo, Colo.) grabbing her first hit of the day off a shot to right field, Oas was put in scoring position with DeGeorge up to bat. In DeGeorge's second at bat of the day, a ball dropped right behind first base allowed Oas and Archuletta to score, putting the Cougars ahead 3-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, Becky Pieroni (Montgomery, Ill.) worked her way around the bases after facing a walk to start the inning off. A double up the left field line from Hailey Howard (Machesney Park, Ill.) would send Pieroni home and put Howard in scoring position. With the bases loaded Westphal hit to second, but Claire Urchell (Crown Point, Ind.) would beat the tag to the bag. In an identical play, Sterrett sent the ball towards second base where Westphal beat the race to the bag giving Carole Ross (Whittier, Calif.) time to get home while Urchell followed behind to beat the throw to the plate. With four hits and four runs in the inning, the Cougars jumped ahead 8-1 heading into the top of the sixth.

An infield 2 RBI single for Sydney Sterrett? Yeah, we'll take that 😎

Cougs take the lead 8-1 heading into the top of 6. pic.twitter.com/pbfH3ZYmQz

— CUC Softball (@cucsoftball) April 21, 2022

With Shroll still dominating inside the circle, the Cougars closed the top of the sixth without allowing any runs. Back at the plate, Archuletta sent a ball through the left side as freshman Alyssa Kontopoulos (Elmhurst, Ill.) came in to pinch run. Another Howard double, her second of the game, put Kontopoulos at third with Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.) at the plate for the Cougars. In her first at bat of the game, Geng sent a long ball to center to drive Kontopoulos home, ending the game 9-1 in six innings. 

The Cougars split their series with the Stars after falling to them last week 3-5. They'll be back in action on Saturday as they take on Concordia-Wisconsin for their Senior Day celebration with games starting at 2:00 pm. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage and on Twitter and Instagram @cucsoftball.